


Bond of Blood: Bleed the same

by nephilicreaper



Series: Bond of Blood [1]
Category: Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, Vampire Knight (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Extremely Slow Burn, Kaname is probably going to be an ass for most of this work, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22442290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nephilicreaper/pseuds/nephilicreaper
Summary: Zero Kiryuu finds a body in the woods by the stable only to realize that the body was still alive. Soon, at the shock of everyone at the academy, Zero and the stranger grow an attachment better than anyone else who had tried to befriend the hunter in the past. What the others don't realize is that the stranger isn't from Japan. He's not even from their world. He just wants to find a way home to his friends. This doesn't end well as the hunter and his newfound friend are soon targeted by an old enemy of one of the academy students.
Relationships: Kiryuu Zero/Kuran Kaname
Series: Bond of Blood [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614913
Comments: 16
Kudos: 178





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be the first story that I am publishing here. I had the idea from my imagination based on a couple of favorite characters from both an anime and a mobile video game. Please go easy but do let me know if there's anything wrong grammatically or spelling wise and I will try to edit the story as I go.
> 
> I do not own Vampire Knight Or FFBE

Zero Kiryuu couldn’t hold back a grimace as he woke up covered in hay. He stood up, brushing himself off before patting White Lily on her flank. After that, he left the horse’s stall, preparing for another day of hell from the bloodsuckers and their millions of obnoxious fans.

He walked through the school’s trees, physically looking like he didn’t have a single care in the world.On the inside though, he was panicking. Another day suffering from his insatiable bloodlust. Another day of having to deal with Kuran holding everything above his head like Zero was some sort of slave and the Pureblood his master. He wished that he could just end it all. It wasn’t like the silverette had anything to live for anyway. His twin brother hated him for something that he couldn’t control and the girl he treated like a sister was more obsessed with the pureblood than any of the Night Classes’ fans were. He might as well save himself from a life of insanity and loneliness before it gets any-”

“ Mmmmhh.”

The sound someone groaning in pain snapped Zero from his thoughts. He turned around, hand heading straight for Bloody Rose as Lilac eyes searched for the source of the noise. Gun pointed toward the ground, he waited for something to jump out and attack him. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened and surely wouldn’t be the last.

After a minute of nothing jumping out and no more sounds being made, Zero slowly started to place Bloody Rose back on his hip. It was probably just some animal that made the groan. Nothing to be paranoid over.

“ Mmmmhh”

Zero’s eyes narrowed as his eyes searched through the undergrowth. Now that he wasn’t distracted, he could tell that the groan came from a human, most likely male. He walked over towards where he last heard it, hands gently parting the bush that was in his way.

His eyes widened as they peered upon the body of a young man around his age. Looking closely at the body lying curled up in a fetal position, he could freely admit that he had never seen this boy before. Whoever this boy was though, he had a weird obsession with the color blue. Not only did the boy have a blue scarf covering a royal blue shoulder wrap that lay over a long black sleeved shirt, but his hair was also a lighter shade of blue that looked almost silver in certain lighting.

“Mmmmhh” The boy’s voice was a bit softer than most as he groaned in pain, to the point that Zero actually felt bad for the stranger. Let it not be said that Zero did actually know how to show that he cared. He reached out, gently grasping the boy’s shoulder before giving it a light shake.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, trying to get a response from the boy. “Come on, it’s getting dark soon and you don’t want to be out here when that happens.” Still no response. Not wanting to be awkward by checking the boy’s neck for a pulse, Zero reached for one of the boy’s hands, noticing they had on a pair of fancy-looking white gloves. What caught his eyes the most though was there was a turquoise like jewel in place over each knuckle of the gloves. _Wow, the kid must come from a rich family_ , Zero thought. He places two fingers on the boy’s pulse point, only being able to take a deep breath once he feels the steady thrum of the boy’s heartbeat.

“ At least your heart’s still beating.” Zero murmured to the unconscious stranger. He reaches his hand out to just below the boy’s nose, making sure that he was still breathing. Only once Zero was reassured by the small puffs of air coming out did he look towards the boy’s mouth. “What the?” He asked panicking.

A small stream of what looked like water was leaving the boy’s mouth at a slow pace. Zero almost thought it was drool but his gut told him that something else was going on. He placed his head on the boy’s chest and panicked some more when he heard what sounded like fluid coming from where his lungs would be. _I’m going to need some help_ , he thought.

With that, one hand reaches in the pocket of his school jacket for his cell phone while the other hand quickly starts to pound on the boy’s back. After what, the stranger’s mouth opens and more water comes gushing out. Thank god the stranger was already on his side. As this happens, Zero is quickly clicking on his father’s number, listening with worry as the dial tone starts before starting to ring.

“Hello, Zero!” Headmaster Cross calls. “I am so proud that you have finally taken the time to call daddy and I just want to say that-”

“Cross, now is not a good time.” Zero interrupted. Cross must have heard the panic in his adopted son’s voice as he didn’t say anything, waiting for Zero to continue. “Look, I found a boy here, laying on the ground in pain. It looked like he was drowning which doesn’t make any sense as there’s no huge body of water anywhere near here and I don’t recognize him at all, so he can’t be from school.” He knew he was rambling but in Zero’s defense, he had never experienced anything that couldn’t be solved by threats or shooting.

“Slow down, Zero.” Cross’s unusually serious voice rang through his cell. “Now, did you move the boy to his side?”

“He was already on his side in a fetal position when I found him”

“Good, did you check his pulse and breathing?”

“Yes, both are good. I also hit him on the back to help him cough up some of the water that was in him.”

“Good.” He could hear Headmaster doing something in the background but he wasn’t sure what. “I need you to tell me where you are so that I can send out the nurse and some of the security to help take him to the infirmary.”

“I’m…” Zero had to pause a bit to settle down his thoughts. “We’re somewhere close by the horse stables. I had just left White Lily to go to my Prefect duties ...” He paused as his last words slowly start to sink into his brain. “Shit. I’m late for Crossover. Yuuki’s taking care of everything all by herself.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Cross said. “I’ll send Yagari or Kaito over to help her. Meanwhile, you need to stay where you are. Watch the boy and make sure nothing happens to him. That’s now your main priority.” Cross paused before adding. “You’re doing ok, Zero. Just relax and help will be with the two of you soon.” With that, Cross hung up.

Zero put his phone back into his pocket and focused back at the boy he was crouched next to. The top part of the boy’s appearance wasn’t the only strange thing about him. His bottom half was covered in a fancy pair of dress pants and his shoes closely resembled the style gloves that were on his hands all the way down to the jewel on the upper part of the shoe. Zero couldn’t help but think that the boy resembled some sort of magician.

“Mr. Kiryuu!” A voice yelled as the school nurse ran up to them, a couple of security guards right behind her carrying an emergency cot. How long was Zero waiting? He didn’t think they were waiting that long but he wasn’t really looking at the time to know. The nurse plopped down, stethoscope in hand as she placed it on the stranger’s chest. “He’s definitely got a good amount of fluid in his chest.” She lets the stethoscope fall to her chest as she motioned for the two guards. While they work on strapping the stranger in, she gently urges Zero away so that they weren’t in the way. “Thank God you were here.” She says to the teenager. “The kid would have probably died if you hadn’t found him.” She looks at Zero’s hands with Zero’s eyes following. “Honey, you’re shaking. Are you ok?”

“Yeah.” Zero lied. He had honestly never experienced anything that didn't involve vampires so it wasn't a surprise that he was worried. He looked over at the boy. “Who is he? I’ve never seen him around here before.”

The nurse just shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before either. Trust me, I’ve gone through every student’s files, including the Night Class. He’s not from here.” She pats Zero on the back. “Come on back to the infirmary with us. You may say you’re fine but you’re obviously shaken up. Some juice could do you good.”

This is the time where Zero says no and goes about his way. He didn’t need anyone to see him be weak. If people saw him be weak then they would use it against him. It’s happened to him multiple times. That’s how he’s stuck being used by the Pureblood asshole. He needs to just go to his dorm room and go back to sleep.

Instead of doing that though, Zero just nods his head and follows the group toward the infirmary.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero has to go treasure hunting and we finally learn the stranger's name.

The infirmary was stuffy as Zero sat down in a chair, a cup of orange juice in hand. The nurse, whose name tag read Mrs. Sato, had given it to him a little bit ago and, even though orange juice wasn’t what he really needed, he took the glass anyway. He watches as the older woman starts to take care of the boy who is now laying on the infirmary bed. She checked his blood pressure, breathing, and pulse. All of which came back normal. She checked his body, looking for any bruises or abrasions that could give away any clue as to what had happened. She finally made a sound that closely resembled “aha” as she gently searched through the boy’s hair.

“You find something?” Zero asked taking a sip of his juice.

Mrs. Sato turned to face him, her hands still in the other boy’s hair. “There’s a nasty looking bump on the back of this kid’s head. I bet this is probably why he hasn’t woken up yet.” She shines a small penlight into each of the boy’s eyes. “Pity really. This kid has the most beautiful green eyes that I have ever seen. Kind of like the sea really.” She looked back at Zero. “Hell, if it wasn’t for the eyes, this kid could almost be an exact replica of you, Zero.”

“His hair is blue though.”

Mrs. Sato hummed, “Blue yes, but it’s so light that it almost looks silver in a certain light.” He had to give her that one. He watches as she starts to dig into a drawer nearby, pulling out a bandage roll“Come over here for a second. Why don’t you hold him up while I wrap a bandage around his head.”

Zero does that, taking note that the boy isn’t very heavy. He had to wonder if the boy was getting enough food. He watches as Mrs Sato wrapped the bandage around the boy’s head with quick and easy precision. “There,” She murmured just loud enough for Zero to hear. “That should do it. Though I do say that this kid is wearing some of the strangest clothes I have ever seen for someone who was young.” She cupped her chin. “I don’t even think people in western countries wear these kinds of clothes.” She ushers for Zero to gently lay the boy back onto the bed. “ Why don’t you go off and get some sleep now, Zero.”

“Are you sure?” He asked. What would happen if he left? Would the kid die while he was off taking another nap?

The older woman waved off his question, “Yeah I’m sure. There’s nothing else that can be done. His head is wrapped up and you got a lot of the fluid out of him before I had gotten to the scene. At most we just have to worry about is some head trauma and the possibility of pneumonia. If that’s the case though, I won’t be able to do anything except have him taken to the infirmary.” She pats Zero on the shoulder, giving him a soft smile. “I wasn’t kidding back there. You probably saved this boy’s life. You’re a hero.” She moves away. “Now why don’t you head on out before you pass out from the stress of your experience.” She opens the door motioning to him with one. “Come on, out. I expect to see you acting your normal grumpy self by tomorrow morning.” A wicked grin grew on her lips. “Unless of course, you want to end up on the bed next to your little friend there.”

Zero quickly shook his head. “No thank you, ma’am.” Let it be known, he may not be afraid of a lot of things, particularly anything supernatural related, but he was worried about someone who could probably kill him with anything in this room without making it look like murder.

He rushes out the door, preparing for a long night with Chairman Cross and Yuki.

The next day, Zero’s out of the Chairman’s home long before school’s even supposed to start. Part of this was because he didn’t want to deal with Yuki and Cross finishing their interrogation with him. It took what felt like forever before the two let up on him so he could go to his room and collapse in his bed, falling asleep the second his head hit his pillow.

The second reason was that he wanted to check on the boy he had found yesterday. He grimaced to himself. Usually, he’s able to hide his caring nature behind scowls and threats. After yesterday though, he couldn’t seem to put up his usual act.

He walked into the school building, heading straight to the door that held the infirmary. Before he opened it though, he heard a crash and a yell coming from inside. He could have sworn that he heard the word classes or something being uttered multiple times from the other side. Dreading the worse, Zero pulled out Bloody Rose and cautiously opened the door, not wanting to alert anyone.

The boy was up, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and muttering to himself as he searched through everything that he could reach. Mrs. Sato was nowhere in sight. As quietly as he could, Zero opened the door the rest of the way and pointed Bloody Rose at the boy. “I suggest that if you don’t want to get shot, that you stop what you’re doing.” He pretended to take the safety off, knowing that, even if he shot him, the boy would be fine since Zero was pretty sure the other wasn’t a vampire. “Now.”

The boy stiffened, turning to look at Zero. His green eyes were on display with an emotion that Zero couldn’t quite read from where he was. “Where are they?” The boy asked in a soft voice.

Zero continued to point his gun at the boy. “How about you answer me some questions. Where is the lady that was here with you?”

“Lady?”

“Yes, lady.” He tried his hardest not to lose his temper. “There was a nurse here. Mrs. Sato. Where is she?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was alone when I woke up.” The boy raised his hand to his face, only to put it back down with a look of dejection on his face.

Zero didn’t believe him. With Bloody Rose pointed at the boy’s head, Zero walked around, looking under the beds and inside the medical closet. Mrs. Sato wasn’t there. He lowered his gun, deciding that whoever this guy was, he wasn’t a threat. “Ok, then tell me, what are you looking for?”

“My glasses.”

Zero swore that he could feel his blood pressure rise a little. “You’re looking…” He hesitated, fully digesting what the boy told him. “ for your glasses.”

“Yes.” The boy walked closer. “Please, have you seen them? I really need them back right away.” As the boy stepped closer, Zero couldn’t help but notice that he was a little taller than the blue-haired boy.

“Why do you need them so badly?” Zero asked. “It doesn’t look like you need them that bad.”

The boy hesitated before stating “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Zero repeated. “What’s so complicated. You either need glasses or you don’t. Which is it?”

The boy bit his lip, closing his green eyes in frustration. “I **_need_ **them.” He admitted. “They are very important and I need them like people need air. So please, can you tell me where they are.”

Zero didn’t say anything as he tried to figure out if this guy was serious. “Look, if you’re telling the truth that you really need your glasses, then you can just get yourself a new pair.” He looked back at the boy’s clothes. “I’m pretty sure that it won’t put too much of a dent in your money.”

“You don’t understand.” The boy urged. “All the Gil in Lapis would never be able to replace my glasses. They’re irreplaceable.”

Zero sighed in defeat. “Okay look, how about I cut you a deal. If you stay in this room, I will go search for your glasses. However, if I find out that you left, I will find and shoot you.

The boy narrowed his green eyes. “You’re not going to shoot me.”

Zero’s own eyes narrowed in return. “Oh yeah? You wanna bet.” He raised Bloody Rose, pointing it right back at the boy’s head.

“Your safety is still on. I know you did that on purpose.”

Zero couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. How did this guy know that? No one in Day Class or even Night Class has ever been able to call his bluff before. Not even Yuki. He lowers his gun again. “Either way, do we have a deal?” He all but growls out.

The boy nods. “I will stay in this room while you go search for my glasses.” For a second, a feeling of peace floats across his face. “Thank you.” The boy utters as he goes to sit back on the bed he was occupying earlier.

“No problem,” Zero answered back as he left the infirmary, shutting the door. He pauses for a moment before grabbing a trash can, placing it underneath the doorknob. He then proceeded to go on a treasure hunt.

* * *

Zero stomped through the woods, trying to get back to the area where he found the mystery boy. He kept his eyes on the ground, searching for the most expensive-looking glasses that the guy had. He wouldn’t be surprised if they were as fancy as the guy’s gloves and shoes.

A light gleamed from a bush. He turned toward it separating the foliage as best as he could to get a glimpse. What he found was what looked like the plainest pair of glasses that one would expect.

_This can’t be them_ , he thought. _These glasses are probably the most common and cheapest pair that one could find_ . He picks them up, turning them around in his hand. They were just a normal pair of glasses. A far cry from the guy’s outfit. _These are what he’s freaking out over?_ Zero couldn’t help but wonder if someone was playing a prank on him. Either way, he tucked them away in his pocket, making sure that nothing was there to scratch them.

A snap sounded behind him, causing Zero to turn around with Bloody Rose back out. He pointed at the intruder, somewhat expecting it to be the boy. It wasn’t.

Kaname Kuran stood in front of him a look of boredom on his handsome face. “Kiryuu.” He began. “I see that you’ve decided to go back to where you belonged.”

Zero’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about, Kuran.”

Kaname moved his arms out, motioning towards the trees. “You know, live in the wild with all of the other savages that you belong with.”

Zero cocked his gun, ready to shoot the bastard for that comment. “What are you doing here, Kuran? It’s day time. You should be sleeping in a coffin with the rest of your kind.”

Kuran smiled as his arms slowly fell back to his side, “Oh I just heard some interesting rumors last night and just had to ask the only person who hadn’t been at Crossover yesterday.”

“What rumors?”

Kuran moved a little closer. “Oh you know, that a body was found somewhere close to the stables that just so happens to be your second home.”

Zero sighed rolling his eyes. Obviously someone must have seen him yesterday. “You’ve lost your damn mind, Kuran. Now, why don’t you go drain some poor student dry and leave me alone.” He starts to turn around, ending their conversation.

The next thing that happened, Zero ended up with his back pressed against a tree. Kaname had his arm pressed against the younger teen’s chest, a smirk growing on the pureblood’s face. “You seem to have forgotten your place here, Kiryuu.” He leans down so that his lips almost brush Zero’s pierced ear while the silverette started to struggle. “I own you, Kiryuu. Body, mind, and soul. It all belongs to me.” With that, Kaname shoves Zero to the ground. He gives the younger one last look of contempt before stalking away.

Zero watched the Pureblood’s back disappear with a deep-seated hatred flowing through him. He feels his cheeks grow red from the embarrassment of being manhandled like that. Oh, how he wished that he could just shoot the asshole in the head.

Zero groans as he places his hand on the ground, getting ready to stand back up. Before he did though, his eyes caught sight of an ornate looking book. He reached out for it, noticing that it was very thick. Like the mystery boy’s clothes, the book was blue with golden accents across it. He opened it, hoping to get an idea of who their new guest was.

His eyes narrowed in frustration as he flipped through the book. Not a single page contained a trace of Japanese writing. It didn’t even look like it was English. None of the words made any sense to him and there were even some strange drawings on some of the pages. “What the hell?” What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

The trip back to the infirmary was pretty much boring. Nothing else happened. No signs that explained what was going on or who the guy was. When he reentered the school building, heading straight to the infirmary’s door, his eyes immediately narrowed as he noticed the trash can not where he had put it. The door was still shut so he immediately opened it, not bothering to grab his weapon as he figured that no one would be in there.

“Ah. Mr. Kiryuu.” Mrs. Sato piped up as she stood by her patient, “May I ask as to why the door was blocked by a random trash can?”

Zero could feel his cheeks heat up again. “I uh, had to go look for something and I didn’t want our guy to escape.” He watched as Mrs. Sato rolled her eyes.

“Honestly,” She began, “I leave for ten minutes to grab some breakfast and all hell breaks loose.” She turns back around now focused on the boy. “Open your mouth, honey.” The second the boy opens his mouth, Mrs. Sato shines a light. “You look good.” She turns off the light, letting him close his mouth. “Everything seems to be good. In fact, despite the condition you were brought here in, you look like a perfectly healthy teenage boy.” She shines the light in his eyes. “In fact, your chest sounds amazing given the fact that when Mr. Kiryuu here found you, your lungs were filled with water.” She throws the knife onto the nearby counter. “Now, can you tell us your name, please? You’re obviously not from around here.”

The boy looks over at Zero before focusing back on Mrs. Sato, “My name is Nichol.”

“Nichol?” She asked. “Is that short for Nicholas, perhaps?”

Nichol shook his head, “No, it’s just Nichol.” He focuses back on Zero, “Did you find my glasses?” His voice was filled with so much hope that Zero prayed that he wasn’t going to disappoint the teen.

He reaches for the glasses in his pocket, pulling them out with ease. “I found these, but I’m not sure they’re what you were looking for.” He hands them to Nichol who smiles brightly, slipping them on his nose.

“Thank you, Mr. Kiryuu.”

Zero blushed at the praise. “It’s just Zero.” He rubs the back of his head with his free hand while moving his other hand, showing the ornate book that he had also found earlier. “I also found this in my search. I’m going to assume that this belongs to you as well.”

A look of shock flashed in Nichol’s eyes. “Oh, I completely forgot about that. Thank you for finding it.” His face soon grew weary, “You didn’t happen to look into it, did you?” 

Zero waved off the question. “I did because I was trying to figure out who you were, but nothing made a single sense to me. It didn’t look anything like Japanese or even English to me.”

Nichol’s face showed relief for a few seconds before a stoic expression replaced it. “Japanese, English.” He murmured. “I’m afraid I am not experienced with anything associated with those words.”

“Experienced?” Zero repeated. “Associated? No offense, but you kind of talk like an old man. How old are you anyway?”

“I am eighteen.” Nichol answered. Eighteen. So he was actually a couple of years older than Zero. “Forgive me though, could you please tell me where I am?”

“You’re at Cross Academy, Honey.” Mrs. Sato stepped in. “Specifically, you’re in Japan.”

“Japan. I apologize but I have never heard of such a place. Is that somewhere in Aldore?” Nichol asked.

“Never heard of such a place.” Mrs. Sato admitted while Zero shrugged his shoulders. “How about this, why don’t I have Mr. Kiryuu show you around the academy. Maybe being around someone your age would help you jog your memory.”

“But my memory is-” 

Nichol couldn’t finish his sentence and Zero couldn’t even refuse as Mrs. Sato all but shoves the two of them out of the infirmary door. That’s where they stood, staring between each other and the infirmary door before Zero let out a sigh of defeat.

“Come on.” He gently grabs the older boy by his shoulders. “If I’m going to play tour guide, then we’re going to find you some normal clothes to wear.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Nichol asked.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichol meets Chairman Cross without the older man even noticing and Zero is done with everything.

The first place that Zero takes Nichol is the Chairman’s house so that he could loan the older teen a Day Class uniform. He quietly opens the door a bit, peering around it to make sure that no one was there. Spotting no sign of life, he pushes the door the rest of the way before turning to look at Nichol. “Now you and I have to be very quiet.” He whispers, placing a finger to his lips to motion silence.

Nichol stares back at him, a stoic expression on his face. If Zero didn’t know any better, he would think that Nichol didn’t know how to express any kind of emotion. Then again, Zero was kind of the same way. “Would you be offended if I asked why?” He asked Zero.

Zero turns around, motioning the older boy upstairs to where his room belonged. “Just trust me on this. The other people that live here are completely-”

“ZERO!” Zero couldn’t hold back the grimace as Cross came whirling around the corner arms open wide to choke the poor teen in a hug. Thankfully Zero was a little prepared as he dodged out of the way, making sure to pull Nichol behind him so the poor guy wouldn’t end up in the crossfire. The two teens watch as Cross’s momentum causes the older man to hit the wall where they originally stood in front of. Soon, the man places his hands on the wall pushing him away before turning himself to face the duo. “Oh, daddy is so happy to see you! You weren’t here when I woke up so you missed breakfast. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? I would have given you a goodbye hug.”

Listening to the man ramble, Zero couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the complete lack of common sense. “I left early because I didn’t want to deal with the poison that you called food.” He crosses his arms, “Anyway, I need to go up to my room now, so leave me alone before I decide to call Child Services on your ass.” With that, he pushes Zero towards the stairs, quietly urging him upwards before Cross finally noticed their guest.

They reach the upstairs landing, with seconds to spare as Zero opened his door and all but shoving Nichol into the room. He followed not even a second later, shutting the door and locking it. He stares at the lock before shoving a chair right underneath it. Living with people like Yuuki and Cross, one could never be too careful.

“I am going to assume that the strange man who insinuated that he was your father was the person you were trying to warn me about,” Nichol spoke up from behind him.

Zero sighed, turning around to face the other boy. “Yeah, sorry you had to experience that. I was trying to make sure that didn’t happen.” 

Nichol didn’t say anything. He just stared at Zero with a strange look in his eyes. Without any other words flowing between the two of them, Zero heads to his wardrobe, searching for an extra uniform. Humming with triumph after finding one that looked like they hadn’t been touched, he handed them to Nichol.

“I’m going to step out while you get dressed. Knock on the door to let me know when you’re done.” Before Nichol could say anything, Zero stepped out after removing the makeshift barricade. He gently closed the door before standing against it like some sort of guard. Checking his phone, he couldn’t help but grimace as he saw that he had already missed first period. _Good thing I was already Acing it anyway,_ he thought to himself.

After only a few minutes of waiting, he could hear a soft knock from the other side. _Man, this guy is nothing but soft,_ Zero thought. He opens the door and steps back inside. 

The Day Class uniform looked nice on Nichol, almost like he was meant to be wearing it. There wasn’t a single crease or fabric out of place. The only thing Nichol didn’t have on was the school tie. Instead, it was held in his still gloved hands. “Forgive me,” He begins. “However, I am afraid to admit that I have never seen a piece of garment like this.” Nichol handed the tie to him. “Could you explain to me what this is?”

Zero blinked, “This?” He raised the tie. “It’s a tie. It’s supposed to go around your neck like this.” He showed the boy his own tie situated around his neck.

Nichol hums for a second as he looks at Zero’s tie. Before the other boy knew anything though, Nichol has grabbed onto the tie and tugged on it, bringing Zero down with it. “Hm. He says, not noticing the choking noises. “I think I have seen something like this on one of Rain’s Visions. Useless garment if you ask me. It appears that this ‘tie’ can only be used against the wearer.” He lets the tie go, finally right as Zero’s face turns a deep purple.

The second he’s let go, Zero goes straight into a coughing fit. He places a hand against the wall to steady himself while his other heads straight for his neck. “Jesus Christ.” He all but yells right after the fit ends. “You don’t just grab someone by their tie like that!” He’s seriously starting to wonder had brought home a psychopath. “Seriously, how would you feel if I grabbed hold of your fancy scarf while it was still around your neck?”

Nichol reached up to mess with his glasses. “Unlike your ‘tie’, if someone grabbed my scarf, then I could just quickly unwind it so that I wouldn’t end up in your predicament.” 

“Jesus Christ, man. You’re a sadist.”

“Not a sadist. Just someone with a heightened thirst for knowledge.” With how he talked, Zero couldn’t help but wonder if this guy was some robot or something. It could explain the guy’s lack of worry over almost killing him.”

A knock soon sounded from the other side, causing both boys to stop with their argument. “Zero? Is everything okay in there?” It was Cross. “I heard yelling.”

“I’m fine.” Zero responding, raising a hand so that Nichol knew not to say anything. “I’m just, you know, arguing with myself.”

Silence filled the room until, “Are you sure, Zero? Because I could have sworn that there was another boy with you early. You know you’re not supposed to have anyone up here without telling anyone. Not with your condition.”

Ziro could feel a wave of shame flow through him. He hated being reminded that he wasn’t human anymore. He gritted his teeth in agitation. “Yes, I know. Now leave so that I can head off to the rest of my classes.”

“Oh yes. That’s right!” Cross’s voice sounded like he did a complete 180. “Mrs. Sato called me saying that she was having you do something important for her. She said it was going to be for the whole day, so I let all your teachers know that you weren’t going to be in.”

Zero couldn’t help but let out a sigh as his hand raised to massage his forehead. “Fine, now leave.” He ignored Cross’s ‘good luck’ as he listened to his adoptive father walk back down the stairs. He turned around, beckoning Nichol closer so that he could put the tie across the older boy’s neck.

“There,” Zero looked at his handiwork. Appearance-wise, the two looked completely different in their uniforms. Zero looked like someone who didn’t give two shits about anyone or anything. Nichol on the other hand, looked very distinguished, maybe even regal in the black attire. “Now I’m going to have to ask you something completely crazy.” At Nichol’s nod of encouragement, Zero continued. “How good are you at jumping out a two-story building?”

Nichol raised an eyebrow, stoic expression never wavering, “I can’t say that I’ve tried, though it can’t be any worse than that one time my group had to leap from a moving train.” Zero looked at the guy, wondering if he was serious before he shook his head and went to open his bedroom window.

He ushered for Nichol to come closer, “Now, grab onto the sill here,” he pointed at the bottom of the window sill, “and move a leg to the other side.” He waits for Nichol to follow his instructions. “Good, not twist your body so you can place your other leg and- WAIT!” Before he could finish his instructions, Nichol has already dropped down from the window. “Fuck.” Zero cursed as he looked outside, expecting the bluenette to be laying on the ground in pain. Instead, Nichol was standing perfectly fine from where Zero could see him. “Jesus Christ.” He hissed to himself. “Who the fuck is this guy?” He shakes his head, massaging away the impending headache. “Okay whatever just, stay there.” He yells down, praying that no one was around to hear him.

He closes his window and hides Nichol’s clothes. He really didn’t want anyone to come in and start asking questions. After that, he moves the chair and unlocks his door, mentally preparing himself for whatever was going to happen downstairs. He walks down, trying to be quiet and not get noticed by Cross. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed.

“Ah, Zero.” Cross smiled from the living room. “I can’t believe you didn’t escape from your window like you usually do.”

“Yeah well,” He tried to come up with a good excuse so that Cross wouldn’t snoop. “I figured that I might as well use the front door as any normal person would.”

“Good for you.” Cross’ smile was so genuine that Zero tried his best not to believe that the man was being sincere. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you some questions before you headed out.”

“Whatever.”

“About last night, could you tell me what happened?”

“I already told you as best as I could when I came home last night.” Zero answered. “I was leaving White Lily’s stall when I came across a body in the woods. Only the body was still alive and breathing. Soon after, I called you for help. The nurse came and had the body taken to the school’s infirmary where she checked on the person’s health. That’s as much as I could tell you because Mrs. Sato made me go get some sleep.”

Cross hummed. “Are you sure that’s all that happened? No unwanted intruders or Night Class students nearby?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” It’s not like Zero was completely lying. He just didn’t tell Cross that the body was now walking around and had just left through Zero’s bedroom window. “It was still daylight out so there shouldn’t have really been any Level E’s walking around anyway.” He looked over toward the doorway before looking back at Cross. “Now was there anything else that you needed?”

“Yes.” Cross walked over and placed a strong hand on Zero’s shoulder. “Look, I don’t know how you’re feeling. Ever since learning about Ichiru, I understand that you’re upset. However, you’ve been holding in everything but your anger ever since you came to live with Yuki and me.” He reaches for Zero’s chin, lifting it up so that they could look into each other's eyes. “I know that you don’t want to talk to me about everything but, you need to start bonding with people. Someone that knows what you’re going through. You don’t have to be alone anymore, Zero.”

Zero waited until Cross was done speaking. “Are you done?” The second Cross nodded, Zero grabbed the older man’s hands and roughly shoved them away. He walked towards the door, about to open it. Instead, with his back towards the chairman, he spoke. “You don’t know what I need, old man.” He gritted his teeth as nothing but anger-filled words flowed from his mouth. “I don’t need anyone, and I don’t need you telling me how to live my life.” He turned around, lilac eyes filled with a wave of burning anger. “I am perfectly fine by myself, so mind your own business.”

With that, he yanked open the front door and stepped out, making sure to slam the door on his way out. He walked over to the other side of the house, searching for the spot that his bedroom window faced. He had told Nichol to not move so, from the small experiences that he had already had with the strange boy, he figured that Nichol would have stayed where he was.

Instead, Nichol was nowhere to be seen.

“God Dammit.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichol is kidnapped by some girl who won't listen and is saved. Later, he finds out that the academy has a dangerous beast and tries to protect Zero from them.

To many people, Nichol could be considered a character of many colors. In his home country of Olderion, he was a Warden of the Waters along with his younger siblings. The tactician that helped keep the Olderion army thriving. To strangers, he could be considered cold and detached, almost to the point of being cruel. To his team, he was a friend, even brother to some. One thing that Nichol has never been though, was confused.

Until today that was.

So he stood there, on the ground that faced the back of Mr. Kiryu’s home, pondering his situation. The last thing he could remember was when he and the others were on a ship somewhere in the world of Paladia. They were searching for the whereabouts of their teammate Rain who had disappeared whilst defending their homeworld of Lapis. One second, everything was going fine, then the next they were ambushed by a group of merfolk, a simple fight for them. Or, it should have been until something hit him on the back of the head and dragged him off the ship, away from the cries of his friends.

Now he’s currently standing outside the home of some of the strangest people he had ever met, and that’s saying something considering one of his teammates is a 700-year-old woman stuck in a little girl’s body. Was everyone in this ‘Japan’ as weird as that man called Cross? If that was the case, Nichol needed to find a way back to his friends. At least they were sane...ish.

He didn’t move. One of the dumbest things that someone could do was go wandering off in a place that they had no knowledge of. That was the easiest way to get killed. He didn’t even bother asking Zero why he needed to jump out of his window, listening to the worries of the other boy’s adoptive father clued Nichol in on the fact that Zero is severely sick. That was the best conclusion that Nichol’s mind came to. Since the silverette wasn’t allowed to have anyone in his room with him than his adoptive father must really worry about the boy’s health going bad. A small pang went through Nichol’s stomach. He kind of wished that he and his siblings had that instead of being forced into growing up at such a young age.

“HEY! ZERO!” A hand roughly grabbed Nichol’s shoulder, forcing him to turn around in surprise. He couldn’t get a look at the culprit’s face but it must be female given by the female version of the uniform he was currently borrowing and the long dark hair curled near her shoulders. Whoever this girl was, she was soon dragging Nichol away from his spot. “COME ON!” She yelled as she continued to kidnap the baffled boy. “You’re late to class! It’s already time for lunch. You’ve missed half of the school day to do what? Stand outside the back of our home like some weird version of Michael Myers?”

“Excuse me…” Nichol tried to say more only to be interrupted by the girl.

“What’s your excuse for being late now, anyway? You can’t say the Night Class was out because it’s only noon! You and I know that they aren’t allowed outside of their dorms except for when they are supposed to be at classes.” She stopped and turned around, brown eyes giving Nichol a dirty little look. “Thanks for that by the way. I had to deal with crossover all by myself because you were off ‘finding a body’.” He watched as this girl’s fingers went up to emphasize the last part of her sentence. He’s now starting to think that he died and the water god was punishing him.

They arrive at the building that he and Zero had left earlier. She forcefully pushed the front door with one hand before dragging poor Nichol inside. The halls were filled with students now as everyone is heading off for lunch. The girl drags him along, ignoring the stares and whispers as others watch. Nichol couldn’t help but wonder if this was an almost every day occurrence for Zero. If that was the case, then Nichol couldn’t help but feel bad for the silverette.

They enter a room filled with tables and chairs. One one side of the room there was a counter area with adults passing out food to students while wearing some strange garments on top of their heads.

He’s being shoved down in a chair by his kidnapper who, despite her diminutive stature, sure knew how to drag someone around. Lid really needed to get some pointers from this strange girl. Another girl is sitting in front of him, with light brown hair cropped close to her head. “Uh, Yuki?” The girl started only to be interrupted by his kidnapper sitting down beside him.

“Sorry about that, Yori.” the now proclaimed Yuki began. “I had to search for this asshole,” She pulled on Nichol’s arm so hard that he could have sworn that it was close to disconnecting from his body, “Since he ditched the first half of school today.”

“Yuki.” Yori began.

“I mean come on. This jerk couldn’t even come up with a good explanation as to why he was ditching anyway. Can you believe that?”

“Oh, I can.” Yori gave Nichol an apologetic look. “Look, Yuki. I think you may have-”

“Not only that,” Yuki interrupted, “this asshole did ditch me last night when we were supposed to be doing our prefect duties. Why I have the right mind to just-”

“Just do what?” A familiar voice growled behind them. Nichol turned around, spotting Zero, cheeks red from anger, glaring at the back of Yuki’s head. A wave of relief flushed through him. Thank the Gods that someone close to sane was here now.

“What?” Yuki turned around, finally noticing their new companion. “But,” She turned to look between the two boys. “How?” She paused in her gaping to get a good look at Nichol. “You’re not Zero, are you?”

Nichol rubbed his chin in thought. “Well last time I checked, I didn’t have the urge to threaten to shoot someone if they didn’t leave.” He messed with his glasses as something else came to mind. “Unless that’s completely common in this strange little country that you reside in.”

“I tried to tell you, Yuki.” Yori piped in, her face flushed from embarrassment as she stared at the three. “This boy doesn’t look like Zero. I've never even seen him on campus before. I think you just kidnapped some poor kid.”

Yuki stared at Nichol for so long that said boy believed that he could see the little Moogle in her head falling off its wheel as it tried to keep her brain from overloading. Then, the girl stands up with a scream so loud that everyone but Nichol had to cover their ears. Nichol just sat there observing the girl's meltdown.

“Oh my god!” Yuki yelled as she started to panic. “I am so sorry. I didn’t realize that you weren’t Zero. You see, from the back, you guys looked so identical that you could be twins.” Yuki stopped rambling as she repeatedly touched her two index fingers together in a show of embarrassment. “Or triplets I guess since Zero already has an identical twin.”

Zero groaned from behind as he slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Yuki,” He groaned, “He and I look nothing alike. I mean don’t get me wrong, we are both pale but, other than that, you should have stopped and looked before you decided to kidnap my guest.”

“But he has silver hair,” Yuki answered.

“His hair is just a really light blue whereas my hair is completely silver.” Zero rolled his eyes, sighing out in defeat. “If you had even seen him from the front then you would have at least noticed that his eyes are green and he has on a pair of glasses.” He then proceeds to point at his face. “Whereas my eyes are purple and do not need glasses.”

Nichol could have probably told that his eyesight was perfect and the glasses were only for sentimental reasons. However, he decided to stay put and watch the ensuing argument between these two people. Sometimes it’s best to watch and observe.

He watched as Yuki started to visibly shrink in on herself, “I guess you’re right.” She admitted.

“You think?” Zero drawled. “You forget that, unlike you, I’m actually passing all my classes.”

Yuki’s face soon turns purple as Nichol watches. “You didn’t have to say something like that? Especially in front of the cute new guy.” That last part was much quieter but, sitting right next to the girl, Nichol was able to hear every word. Yuki turns back around to fully face him, all too happy smile on her face. “Hello!” She greets. “I am so sorry about earlier. I’m sure that wasn’t something that you wanted to deal with on your first day here. My name is Yuki Cross. What’s yours?

“Nichol.”

“Nichol what? Is that short for something like Nicholas?”

“No, just Nichol. Why? Is your name short for something or a short amount of letters supposed to represent your lack of brain cells?”

A small snicker could be heard from behind them. Yuki gaped at Nichol before giving him a not very scary glare. “Oh great.” She murmurs. “Another one.” She tries to get rid of the glare only for a small pout to stay on her face. “Can you at least give me a last name?

“Don’t have one.”

“Okaaaay.” Yuki held out the word as she visibly deflated. “Well then, Nichol, how do you like your stay at Cross Academy?”

Nichol stared at here, visibly wondering if this girl was an idiot or just slow. “ Oh, I feel great.” At Yuki’s smile, he continued. “About as great as one could be when you’re being manhandled to places you've never been before, by someone who looks like a little kid.” Gods, if Sakura heard what he was saying, she would kill him.

For a second when no one made any move to say anything, Nichol started to wonder if he went too far. In the past before, he had been told by a friend that he needed to take it easy on his harsh words or else no one would listen to his plans. Still, it’s difficult for him to act pleasant to someone that he had only just met.

A small snort could be heard behind them as Zero tried to hold in his laughter. “You know he’s got a point, _Dear_ Yuki.” He put extra emphasis on the dear part though Nichol couldn’t understand why. “If I were him, I would have put up more of a fight if I ever came across someone as crazy and immature as you.”

Nichol watched as Yuki’s face soon turned into a pout that was just too juvenile for someone of her age. Before she could say anything though, a loud alarm filled the room. Nichol tensed, waiting to get attacked by some monstrous creature, only to see everyone but their table casually walking out of the doors. Confused, he turns around to answer only for Yuki to beat him to it. “Well anyway, you’re late for class, so head out and I will take Mr. Personality over there to wherever he needs to go.”

Zero smiled, “No can do, Yuki. The school nurse has assigned me the day off to show Nichol the sights. To make sure that I do it, she told Headmaster Cross who in turn, gave me the day off of school.” His grin soon changed to a smirk as shrugged his shoulders in a ‘what can you do?’

Yuki groaned. “So that means I harassed this guy for no reason.” She throws her hands up in defeat. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to your job just… please don’t forget about crossover today. It was bad enough yesterday and your weird teacher had to come and help me out.”

With that, Yuki and Yori exit the cafeteria, leaving behind Zero and Nichol. Nichol watched them before turning back to Zero.

“Well, that was certainly interesting.” Interesting was nowhere near any of the original words that Nichol could think up however, he’s trying his best not to appear so cynical and rude around others.

Zero shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry about Yuki. She can be a little…”

“Demented, deranged, domineering.” He counts the words off of his fingers. “If you want, I could go on.”

“How about immature.” Zero smiles a little. “I’m going to assume that you’re not a very friendly person, are you?”

“No,” Nichol admitted. He could feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Not really. I’ve been told that I can be a complete tyrant when it comes to talking with others.” He let out a small sigh. “I apologize for offending Mrs. Cross. I hope that you don’t take too much offense for my lack of tact.”

“Why would I get offended?” Zero smirked. “I am the exact same way only I actually do it on purpose.” He walks toward the exit, ushering for Nichol to get up and follow him. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that you and I are going to get along quite fine.” He turns to look Nichol in the eyes. “Don’t you think? Now, why don’t I officially start your tour by taking you to one of the best parts of this academy.”

The walk through the woods was almost dull. Nichol had not seen hide nor hair of any of the usual woodland creatures. Where were the Nutkins? The wild nakks? Gods he wouldn’t even care if they ran into a coeurl. Instead, he saw some skinny looking rodent with a long puffy tail standing at the bottom of a tree. He stops and gently tugs on Zero’s shoulder before pointing at the rodent. “Could you tell me what that creature is there?”

Zero turns his head to follow where the other boy was pointing. “That’s a squirrel.” He deadpanned.

“Squirrel,” Nichol repeats himself as he adjusts the position of his glasses. Ever since he had gotten them from his departed brother, he couldn’t help but adjust them every time he was studying something or even just thinking to himself. “You’re country’s so different. I’ll have to write all of this down for later on.”

“Okay then.”

They stop in front of a long wooden building. “So, this is the academy’s stable.” Zero starts as Nichol observes the building. It looked like any normal Chocobo stable that his team had visited in the past, though such buildings were usually seen in small villages where renting out rides was where they earned their main currency from.

“You have your own Chocobos?” Nichol asked.

“What’s a Chocobo?” Zero asked as he places his hand on the large door. “Is that some strange word for cow where you come from?” He shakes his head. “No, this is the place where the school’s horses are kept.”

“I’m sorry, did you just-” He didn’t get to finish his question as Zero pushes the door open. He spots the dangerous creatures behind every stall door there was in the building. There were tons of the giant beasts.

Before he realized what he was doing, Nichol roughly shoves Zero behind him with a loud “Get Back” before the other boy could get hurt. He reaches into his pockets for his grimoire and fan, only to find the latter missing. _Damn it_ , he thinks. _How did I not notice that my fan was missing?_

It didn’t matter. He could still cause damage without his conduit. He opens his grimoire, looking for a powerful spell to defeat the wild beasts.

A hand roughly grabs his shoulder turning him around to face a bewildered silverette. “What the hell are you doing?” Zero demands.

“I’m protecting you,” Nichol says back, a flash of anger rushing through him. He shuts his grimoire and holds it down to his left side. “Why does your Headmaster allow for such dangerous creatures to living here with his students. Does he not realize how dangerous they are?”

Zero gives him an ‘are you serious look’. “What are you talking about?” He waves a hand towards the beasts. “Those are horses. They’re not some wild wolf or something. As long as people take the right precautions, then no one will be hurt.” He raises an eyebrow at the other. “What? Do they not have horses wherever you’re from?”

Nichol grimaced. “Where I come from, there are many types of horses, though they are rare. All of them are a danger to humans.”

“So then, what do you guys ride on in order to shorten your travels?”

“We ride Chocobos when we’re on land. Though I have seen a vision that’s riding a coeurl.”

Zero sighed, slapping his head with his hand. “Okay. Do you mind telling me what the hell is a Chocobo?”

“A Chocobo is a large, flightless bird. It’s almost always yellow though there are some rarer colors.” Nichol answered, “It’s big enough to fit one person on it’s back while it traverses the lands.”

Zero nodded while biting his lip. Soon though, he quickly grew a smile. “Okay, now I know that you’re fucking with me. You do realize that you just described Big Bird, right?” He starts to laugh as he throws his arms over his head, “Jesus Christ. I’m being fucked with by some Dungeons and Dragons nerd.”

Nichol sighed before opening his Grimoire. He turns it to one of the various first pages that he had written, before showing it to Zero. The said boy stopped laughing as he took in the drawing on the page, along with all the little notes surrounding it in words that he couldn’t quite read.

“Well,” He starts. “I don’t know if you’re messing with me, but **that** is a very detailed looking bird.” He focuses back on Nichol, “Say I believe you about this, ‘Chocobo’. That still doesn’t explain your fear of horses.”

“I do not fear horses.” Nichol’s eyes narrow slightly as he drops his grimoire back to his side. “My team has dealt with many on our journey. All of them are vicious. All of them, we had to fight. So excuse me if my instincts to fight come up the second I see many of those savage beasts just behind a door.” His eyes go back to normal though he’s pretty sure they’re giving off an almost icy look. “Unlike some people.”

Zero sighs, “Okay, I finally see what others meant about you being tactless. However, I am not going to get offended because I would be too if I was in your place.” He looks back inside the building. “Though I think you should at least give them a try. These horses aren’t as bad as the ones you’re talking about.” He looks back at Nichol. So, how about this? I’ll give you two choices. Either you come inside and interact with these horses and realize that they are not all that bad, or I just pawn you off on some other student that’s not going to be as accepting of your tactless words.” He raises a handout. “So what’ll it be?”

Nichol stands there, pondering the situation. On the one hand, if he goes inside, he’ll be on edge and ready to attack. He could just make everything miserable for the two of them. On the other hand, out of the few people that Nichol had met today, he felt like Zero was the only one that he could trust. Nichol didn’t even trust the healer that came and checked on him this morning. What was her name? Mrs. Sato? Either way, Nichol couldn’t choose the latter. The silverette reminded Nichol too much of someone else that he was afraid to leave the younger alone. So he made up his mind.

Grabbing Zero’s hand, he gives it a firm shake before letting go. “Are we heading in then? Or are we just going to wait until the end of the world begins?”

They head inside, Nichol keeping an eye on each horse they pass, making sure that none of them go on a rampage. They stop at a stall with a white horse resting inside. A sign on the stall door read the name White Lily. Before anything else could happen, Zero turned around and looked at him.

“Now, before we head in,” Zero starts, “I just want to warn you that White Lily has a bit of a temper.”

Nichol narrowed his eyes. “So, if you wanted to show me that these horses aren’t monsters, then why did you pick one that’s not friendly? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?”

“Yeah but… she’s my horse. I figured that, since you and I are just like two cranky old men, then the two of you would get along just fine.”

“So then, why did you warn me?”

“Just in case this doesn’t work and White Lily decides to kick you out of her stall.” Without another word, Zero opens the stall and ushers him inside.

The horse was resting on her legs when the two came inside. The second her door was closed, her eyes opened and she quickly zoned in on her owner, only to also see the other boy beside him. She lets out a snort before cautiously heading towards the two males.

Nichol tenses as the beast gets closer. He tries his hardest not to cast a spell when she starts sniffing him, going straight from his head until her large snout settled on his chest right where his heart would be. _This is it,_ He thinks as his skin grows paler. _I am going to be killed by a dangerous beast, all because the idiot beside me didn’t want to listen._

Instead of attacking though, the horse just looks over at Zero before placing her giant head on Nichol’s shoulder. The poor boy could feel his heart beat faster he tries to control his fight or flight instincts. Eventually, the horse moved over to Zero to place her head on his shoulder, earning some head pats from the silverette.

“Well, I got to say that’s pretty impressive." Zero turns to look at Nichol with a small smile on his face. Nichol wanted the younger to keep on smiling. Even though they had only known each other for a few hours, the boy reminded Nichol so much of Elle that he could feel his broken heart shatter just a little more “Don’t you think, Nichol?" Zero continues. "It looked like she already likes you.”

“Yeah,” Nichol says while trying to ignore his pounding heart trying to leap out of his chest from being so close to the horse. “Sure.”

Zero heads over to a set of items that were placed on a wall. “Anyway,” He starts, grabbing something that looked awfully familiar to the saddles that were placed on the Chocobos. He brings it over to the horse, before gently tossing it over her back. “I have an idea to help with that fear of yours.”

“Oh?” Nichol asks as he watches Zero mess with the horse, though he did have an idea as to what the younger boy was planning he still decided to ask for clarity. He tried to make himself not throw up from the idea. “And what’s that?”  
After finishing up, Zero turns around with a smirk growing on his face. “You and I are going for a ride on White Lily.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things. I am not trying to make Yuki a terrible character in this. The point of her conversation with Nichol is to show how Nichol can be rude or cruel when he talks to others, sometimes without even knowing that he's doing it.  
> Also, the scene with him freaking out over the horses is because in the Final Fantasy games, the only horses that are in the series are ones that are violent and you have to defeat, such as Crazy Horse and Dark horse.  
> One more thing, Nichol is not from Earth so don't be surprised about him not understanding anything, like with the squirrel. In fact, of the seven main characters for FFBE (Not including Rain's dad nor any of the Veritas), Nichol is the most intelligent of the group. He's the one that makes the plans that help them win, or survive. This is just to show a way of how he may gather intelligence by asking questions from the locals which he then writes information down in his grimoire (The book that Zero found in the second Chapter).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero gives Nichol a small tour and then starts asking questions after watching Nichol find a strange object that the boy seemed to recognize. After that, Nichol shows him something and Zero grows threatening to the other.

Zero couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Why was he taking some random stranger for a ride on his horse? Why is it so hard to remain cold and aloof? He feels like he’s slowly unraveling for all the world to see. He should have just pawned the guy off on someone else. He didn’t need to deal with any extra baggage. He didn’t need any friends. He couldn’t get attached because those people always leave him. Just look at his family.

Still, though some small part of him couldn’t help but notice a part of himself in the older boy. In fact, dare he say it, they were almost the same person when it came to personalities. Both boys could be cruel and aloof in certain circumstances. Hell, just a little bit ago Nichol was trying to protect Zero from the horses. Zero couldn’t remember when someone worried about him that didn’t include him endangering others. Cross and the others only seemed to worry about when he was going to finally become a Level E and Yuki is too focused on her crush with the pureblooded bloodsucker to notice how her adopted brother was feeling.

This boy though, this one boy who has only really known Zero for a few hours, seems to worry about Zero getting hurt. Even though he acted cold, Nichol cared enough about some random stranger that he put himself in front of a perceived threat to protect the younger. This kind of started a spark of pain through his chest. Like a chink of his armor had chipped off.

So here they are, riding atop of White Lily. Nichol was behind him, gripping onto his chest for dear life as they trotted along with the academy with Zero pointing out various buildings and what they are for.

“That’s the Sun Dorm.” He points to a tall white building with brownish roofing on top as the horse slowly comes to a stop. “This is where the Day class lives when they aren’t in class.”

“Day Class. So there are two different types of students on this campus?” Nichol asked. “What’s the difference? Does one class teach white magic and the other, black? Or do they teach green or red magic?”

“I’m seriously starting to wonder if you hit your head a little too hard before I found you.” Zero murmured to himself as he urged White Lily to continue on. “No, the Day class is just the students that have their classes in the day. Then there’s the Night Class. They are students that have their class at night.” They start heading towards the school building. “Now, I am part of the day class-”

“Well, I figured that.” Nichol interrupted. “It’s not that hard to figure out when that girl kept saying that you were skipping classes. Plus, everyone in the cafeteria was wearing the same uniform as us. Though theirs was much neater than your attire.”

Zero ignored his comments, as they stopped at the school building. “So this is where all of the classes are held for both Day and Night students. This is where Yuki took you to earlier and where the infirmary is.”

“Speaking of the infirmary, I need to thank your healer for taking care of me while I was down for the count.”

“Right,” Zero continued on, showing him the various places that he usually tried to avoid. When they were nearing the end of their tour, barring the Night Class dorms, he started leading White Lily back towards the stables. The pace was quiet and peaceful as he felt Nichol loosen his ironlike grip from Zero’s chest. A light glints off the bushes nearby creating a nice setting. They‘re almost there until-

“Stop,” Nichol commands, causing Zero to roughly pull on White Lily’s reigns, forcing the poor girl to a stop. He’s about to demand a reason for the sudden stop when he sees Nichol jump of the horse and head toward the bush that was just glinting a little bit ago. Zero gets down, confused as to what happens as Nichol hurriedly digs through the shrubbery until he heard Nichol say “There it is.” He’s about to ask the older boy what this is all about when Nichol pulls out a small silver handle attached to a curved piece of metal formed with straight spaces meant to hold something on and in between. Each curve had a few pieces of Turquoise attached. What looked like a tiny nondescript animal head sat precariously at one end. “Let’s see if it still works.” Nichol murmurs. He does a small flick with his hand and soon, metal-like feathers spout from the curved part of the handle, giving off a sort of fan-like vibe. All in all though, whatever it was, Zero couldn’t help but compare it to a bird’s wing.

“Seems to still be fine.” He hears Nichol murmur to himself as the fan turns back to just the handle. He watches as Nichol places it around the loop of his pants, exactly where Zero keeps Bloody Rose on his own body.

“Soooo,” He tries to think of something to say. “What is that?”

“My fan,” Nichol remarks, face impassive as ever. “I use it as a conduit when in battle.”

“Battle?” Zero asks. He raises his hands up as if accepting defeat. “Okay, you know what. We are getting back to the stable and you are going to answer every question that I have.” He waits for Nichol to nod before heading back to White Lily.

They didn’t bother getting back on White Lily because the stables weren't very far. Instead, Zero led the horse back to the stable by her reigns while Nichol walked beside him, head down as he wrote things down with what looked like an old fountain pen. Seriously, where was this guy from? When they arrived, they quickly went to the vacant stall before Zero started to take off her saddle.

“So tell me,” Zero asks as he places the saddle back where it belonged on the rack. He reaches for a brush to start grooming White Lily. “Where exactly are you from?”

Nichol watches as he starts to brush the horse’s mane. “I am from the Olderion Federation. To be more specific, I lived in the capital known as Aquapolis Olderion.”  
“Riiight. And where exactly is that?”

“The Veritas called our world Lapis.”

“Lapis, right.” He has no idea what a veritas was. He turns away from his grooming to look at the older boy. “So, where do you think you are now?”

“Somewhere in the world of Paladia. We were on a ship trying to find our missing friend, Rain when we were attacked by a group of merfolk known as mermen. It was going fine until I was hit on the back of my head and dragged off the ships”

“Mermen?” Zero couldn’t stop himself from sounding interested. “Are those like the half fish half human beings that people fantasize about all the time?”

“Why would you fantasize about them?” Nichol says as he opens his book. After finding whatever he was looking for, he hands the book over to Zero to take a look.

Zero couldn’t hold back from raising his eyebrows as he took in the drawing. The creature was purple, with blue fins all across its back and head. Its head looked like that of a fish with sharp, needle-like, teeth hanging from its mouth. Sharp claws hung from the spinely creature’s feet and hands. Compared to the picture of the fluffy yellow bird that Nichol had shown him earlier, this was something that Zero definitely did not want to come across without any protection. He hands the book back, before saying something.

“Yeah, that’s something to have nightmares about.” He admits. “However, nothing like that has ever appeared here. Wherever you’ve been before, whether you’re telling me the truth or not, this planet is called Earth.”

“Earth,” Nichol murmured as he grabbed his book to start writing stuff down.

“What’s with the book?” Zero gestured to the intricately designed cover.

Nichol sits down on a bale of hay and looks up from his writing. “This is my grimoire. I write down everything that I have experienced ever since I left home to travel with my team. Though, since I’ve experienced a lot on our journey, I tend to jot down some notes for me to look back through later.”

“And the drawings.”  
“I tend to sketch out creatures while writing down their information so that if anyone comes across this, they could get an idea of how to take care of themselves.”

“So, why take the time to color in the sketches then? The coloring part didn’t quite make sense to him unless Nichol needed to destress.

“I color them in because there are sometimes various versions of creatures, all with different names. All with different weaknesses. Coloring them in helps to differentiate between various creatures.”

Zero looked up startled. “So there are different types of these mermen?”

“Technically, mermen are just a type of sahagin.” He hands Zero the grimoire, now open to a page with a creature that looked a lot like the merman, only green and orange instead of purple and blue. Either way, with those spiny teeth of theirs, Zero couldn’t help the shivers that traveled down his spine. “The merman we fought were more accustomed to colder waters and so don’t do well in salt waters like the normal sahagin.”

Zero bit his lip as he flipped through the pages. Every other page was either filled with something that he couldn’t read, or with the picture of a dangerous-looking creature. If what Nichol said was true, then there are worlds that are filled with creatures that shouldn’t exist. Granted, he lived with a school full of bloodsuckers and was, unfortunately, one himself, but that was just one dangerous group of inhuman beings. He didn’t have to worry about being dragged from a ship or eaten by some giant spider. Still, though, it was hard for him to believe that Nichol was saying was real.

“So tell me then,” He asks as he flips to a page filled with five people all of which looked completely different from one another. “Why should I believe you?” He flips to another page that’s titled **Water**. The page was filled with symbols and words that he couldn’t figure out. He hands the grimoire back to Nichol“Show me something that proves that you’re not from here.”

Nichol sighs as he reads the page. He lifts his right hand and snaps his fingers. The next thing Zero knew Nichol’s hand starts to glow purple and a small part of the ground nearby erupts with a tower of bubbles spouting from the ground before disappearing. He could hear White Lily give out a startled whinny. The ground was still wet.

Zero narrowed his eyes. He grabs Nichol by the jacket collar and shoves him against the wall. “How did you do that?” He growls. The boy didn’t smell like a vampire so that left out the possibility of him being part of the nobility. However, no human could just conjure up something like that. It was impossible.

Despite being held up against his wall, Nichol still looked as calm as he could be. “Magic is everywhere where I come from.” He states.

Zero’s about to say something only for the alarm on his cell phone to go off. He lets Nichol go, before grabbing the phone from his pocket. “Shit.” He says. Crossover is about to start and there’s no time to drop the other boy off at. He looks back at Nichol, “This isn’t over yet, you still have to answer.” He heads for the stall door, making sure to give White Lily a pat. He motions for the other to follow him.

“Where are we going now?” Nichol asks as they leave the stables.

“To the bane of my existence.” Zero answers. “Crossover.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F367747125816728180%2F&psig=AOvVaw3RFjbl39FdJLfPM4x9hHZ8&ust=1580846820604000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJiP9LqXtucCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO
> 
> For those who haven't played ffbe the address is to Season 2 Nichol to get an idea of what he actually looks like. I'm not sure if his weapon is a fan, or if it can retract into itself, but I figured that is would make a lot of sense since the game doesn't exactly tell you where certain character's weapons go when not in use.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichol meets Kaname.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a while. I've been stressed out with work changes and getting a new job. Plus my dog, Eleanor, passed away on the 28th. I'm still kind of grieving for my baby every day.

They were almost to the moon dorms when Zero decided to say something. He stops and turns around to face the other. “Look, whatever you do, do not show anyone else what you can do.” He didn’t know why he warned Nichol. He should have just gone to the hunters about what he had seen instead of staying quiet. Usually, powers were a sign of being a vampire, and of a threat to humanity. However, a bigger part of himself refused to do it. He didn’t know why, but he still trusted the other boy.

The gated entrance to the Night Dorms was crowded by the time they arrived. The girls, (and even a few boys) were all screaming their heads off as they tried to get closer to the gate, excited for the daily arrival of their favorite people. Zero caught a small glimpse of Nichol flinching as the older boy placed his hands over his ears.

“Everyone Shut up and move out of the way.” He yells. The second his voice rings through the air, the mob parts like the red sea, showing poor Yuki on the ground, most likely trampled by the savages. The girls are mostly quiet as he and Nichol walk through the path that they had made. The silverette stops to help Yuki off the ground before fixing his eyes on the mob.

Surprisingly, the girls didn’t start back in on their yelling. They weren’t silent, though as they started to whisper among each other, no doubt trying to figure out who was the guy that was following Zero.

A small punch on Zero’s back alerted him to an angry Yuki. He turns around to look at her, noticing that her cheeks were a bright red from the frustration of holding off the hoard by herself. “Where were you?” She shrieked. “You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.”

Zero points his hand at Nichol who by now was writing in his Grimoire. Where the boy got the pen, Zero didn’t know. “I told you that I had to take Nichol on a tour of the school.”

“The tour started hours ago.” Yuki seethed. It doesn’t take the whole day to give a tour.”

“We were very thorough. I wanted to make sure that Nichol was going to be okay while he was here.”

“Tell me something,” Yuki demanded. “Why do you call him by his first name. Everyone else, you call them by their last name or just bastard.”

Zero smirked. “It helps that he doesn’t have a last name for me to call him by.”

Yuki opened her mouth, about to say something when the mob started back up on their screaming. Zero didn’t have to bother looking to know that the Night Class was heading their way. He sends out a cold glare to the fans as he wrapped his arms over his chest.

“Shut up, NOW!” He yells. “Before I start handing out monthly detention slips.”

“Now, now, Kiryuu.” That stupid voice chimed in as the gates started to open. The Night Class slowly started to trickle out, Pureblood in the lead like always. “There’s no need to be so rude to these poor girls.

Zero frowned, “Oh? Then how about I just leave and let them have their way with you. I’m sure that you would change your tune very fast.” The hoard started back up with their screams as soon as he gave the implication of free reign.

Kaname didn’t say anything to him though. Instead, the Pureblood turned his attention to focus on Yuki. “Hello, my dear Yuki.” A small, gentle smile lay on his face. Zero could hear a small hum from behind him as Nichol continued to jot down notes. Something in the bastard’s words must have caught the boy’s attention. “How are you doing today?” The pureblood asked.

Yuki blushed, “G-g-good. A-and you?”

“I’m doing just fine now that you’re here.” 

“Th-that’s good.” Usually, this was where Zero would roll his eyes at the sheer stupidity, instead though, he was caught off guard by a small tap on his shoulder. He turns around, seeing Nichol’s attention on him now. 

“So, tell me,” The older boy started. His hand was poised on paper to start writing. “What is the point of all of this?” He then points to the screaming fangirls with a surprising look of irritation on his face. “And why do  **they** feel the need to destroy their vocal cords?”

Zero sighed, “It’s a bit weird to explain.” He points over to the Night Class. “So, everyone in the Night Class is considered hotter than everyone else here. Sooo…” He wipes the back of his neck, a little embarrassed about the situation. “So these girls are basically their fan club. They come here every day just so they could get a small glimpse of their favorite people.”

“I see.” Nichol starts writing something down. “Now tell me,” He looks back up at Zero, green eyes meeting purple, “What exactly is the reason that these two classes are separated?”

Zero tried not to grimace as he tried to think of an answer. “Well, it’s hard to explain.” He admits. “Just know that they have a ‘special talent’ that the day class doesn’t have.” The second that came out of his mouth, he wanted to slap himself. He watched as Nichol’s eyes slightly narrowed as the older boy opened his mouth to say something. He didn’t get the chance though as another hand landed roughly on Zero’s shoulder, causing him to tense up.

“Come now, Kiryuu.” Kaname’s face has a fake smile as he stands behind the hunter. The pureblood squeeze’s Zero’s shoulder tight enough for Zero to bare suppress a flinch. “Don’t be so tense. I don’t understand what’s got you so hot and bothered all of the time.” He could hear a few snickers as the rest of the Night Class watched them.

Zero glared as he roughly grabbed the offending hand and threw it off his shoulder. “Don’t you think you should mind your own business, Kuran?” He practically snarled. He watched as the Bastard’s false smile soon turned into a cruel smirk.

“Calm down, Kiryuu. I just wanted to see how you were doing, you know. Since you left poor Yuki all by herself yesterday.”

Zero gritted his teeth. “Yuki can take care of herself. I had something more important to take care of.”

“Oh.” Kuran still had that blasted smirk on his face, but his eyes soon showed a wave of deep anger in them for a few seconds. “And tell me, Kiryuu. What could possibly be more important than protecting your adopted sister?”

“I’m not one of your pathetic lackeys,” Zero growled. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“No, you’re right,” Kaname admitted. “You’re not part of my circle.” He lowers his head to Zero’s ear. “You’re nothing but a feral animal that needs to be put down.” He raises his head to laugh, patting Zero’s back like they just had a friendly joke between the two of them. “Good talking to you, Kiryuu.” He turns around, finally taking notice of Nichol. 

“Oh.” He says, placing that fake smile back on his face. “And who are you?” He asked, voice filled with fake friendliness. He lifts his hand for Nichol to shake. “My name is Kaname Kuran.” He begins as the two clasp hands and give a nice shake. “I am the vice president of the Night Class.”

“Hello.” Nichol begins. “I was just being shown around the school by Zero here.” He points to Zero with his free hand as the other was still being held by the Pureblood. Wherever the grimoire went, Zero had no idea.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I know that Kiryuu’s attitude can be quite…” He pauses in his speech for a little more dramatics. “Cold-hearted bastard to everyone.” The said boy grimaced at the sounds of agreement coming from the girls and even some of the Night Class. The pureblood bastard was always trying to make his life a little more miserable each time the two saw each other.

“Well then,” Nichol starts as Kaname’s plastered smile soon turns uncomfortable. The two were still holding hands although the pureblood appeared to be trying to remove his from the smaller boy’s grip. Zero almost stepped in, worried for the blue-haired boy. If Nichol was a little shorter than him, then the older boy was almost tiny compared to Kaname’s huge height. Instead of doing anything though, something in his gut told Zero to stay back.

“I guess it’s a good thing that he and I seem to get along pretty well,” Nichol states. “Considering that my men have called me a cold-blooded tyrant.” Still gripping the pureblood’s hand, he leans upward to whisper something into the vampire’s ear. All of Zero’s instincts screamed at him to grab the boy and keep him away from danger. Instead, he watches as Nichol leans away, finally letting go of Kaname’s hand. Said pureblood yanked his hand away so fast, it reminded the hunter of someone who just barely got away from being struck by a venomous animal. 

A flash of rage crosses the pureblood’s wine-colored eyes before his face smoothed into a sickly sweet smile. “Well then.” He begins. “It’s nice to meet you, young man.” He waves to the Night Class. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to cut this short or my friends and I will be late to class.” He turns to Yuki, his smile growing sincere, “Goodbye, Yuki. I hope to see you tomorrow.”

“Y-yeah.” Yuki stammered as her cheeks grew red. “W-will do.”

With that, the Night Class left for their classes. Some of them sending dirty looks to Zero. A few others sent curious looks to Nichol.

The second they left, not even bothering to let the mob calm down, Zero yells at the girls to head back to their rooms before he started handing out detention slips. For once, the girls complied. Some from getting their quota filled, and some because they wanted to discuss the new cutey that had arrived with the school’s resident asshole.

_ Smack _

“Fuck” he murmurs as he clutches the back of his head. He hears another  _ smack _ and Nichol’s small cry of outrage. He looks up, watching Yuki stand in between them with her hand eyes alight with anger.

“What was that for.” Nichol hissed. Zero started to shiver as the temperature soon turned from warm to so cold that you could see your breath. He moves to say something, only to be stopped by Yuki.

The said girl turned straight to look at Zero, a look of rage in her eyes. “I told you to stop being so mean to Kaname.” She almost yells. “He and the Night Class have done nothing to you and yet you still treat them like dirt.” She sweeps her hand to gesture at Nichol. “And now you even have him joining in. What? Decided to spread your prejudice to others?”

Zero glared. “First of all, you know why I don’t like them. And second, Nichol didn’t do anything wrong. He just shook the bastard’s hand.” He didn’t mention the look that grew on Kuran’s face while they were shaking hands. Obviously, Nichol had done something, but he wasn’t sure if it was something normal after what Zero had seen at the stables.

Yuki’s glare lightened some. “That may be but, why did Kaname want to leave so suddenly then? Their classes didn’t start for another thirty minutes at least.”

“How should I know?” Zero asked. “I can’t read the bastard’s mind. Maybe he needed to make sure that his makeup was still on.” He turns to look at Nichol. “Look, Yuki. “why don’t you try to calm down? It’s getting a bit  **cold** all of a sudden. He makes sure to put some emphasis on his words, watching as Nichol’s eyes widen a small bit. Good. He knew what Zero had meant.

Yuki opened her mouth to say something, only for Zero’s cell phone to go off. He takes it out of his pocket, noticing that Nichol stared at the small device with curiosity in his eyes. He clicks the screen, noticing that the caller was Cross. He was tempted by the idea of not answering, only to press the answer button anyway. If Cross didn’t get a hold of Zero, then he would just get a hold of Yuki and have her give Zero the phone.

He presses the button. “What?”

“Awe, don’t be like that to daddy.” He could hear the crocodile tears starting to fall. “Daddy just wanted to see how my little boy was doing.”

Zero rolled his eyes. “Knock it off already and tell me what you need.”He really didn’t want to deal with the older man’s theatrics.

“Fine fine.” The older man whines. “I just wanted to tell you to bring the kid that you were showing around. We need to figure out his information and what’s going to happen to him.”

“Cross, I don’t think that’s a-”

“Hurry up now,” Cross interrupted with that all too happy voice. “And don’t forget to take your pills.”

Zero sighed. “Yeah whatever, old man. I’ll bring him to the house.” He hangs up before Cross could say anything else. Turning to Nichol, he jerks his head, “Come on then. Time to start your sentencing.” He can see Yuki about to say something so he interrupts her before she can. “Yuki, go start your rounds. I’ll meet you when I can.”

Yuki stares between him and Nichol before huffing. “Fine.” She turns around and starts walking off. Nichol and Zero don’t watch her, as they’re focused on each other.

“Given the fact that you called it my sentencing,” Nichol began. “I’m going to guess that you don’t like this place.”

“No.” Zero agreed. “Look, about earlier-”

“I’m sorry.” Nichol interrupted. “I didn’t mean to act out as I did with your friend. I’m usually able to keep my emotions under control but her slap surprised me.”

“That’s fine.” Zero waved off. “I was just wondering what the deal was with you and Kuran.”

Nichol lifts his hand to move his glasses, “I don’t trust him. There’s something off about the whole class. I felt like I was staring straight into the eyes of a coeurl. One that knew how to manipulate others around it.”

“Right, Coeurl. Anyway, what did you do to him? I saw that you were practically clutching his hand.”

“Just a small Blizzard spell. Just to give him a little bit of frostbite. I didn’t like how he was treating you.”

“Right.” Zero rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Thanks.” He flips his hand over out of habit. “Watch who you do that around. That kind of stuff isn’t normal here on earth.”

“You mean magic?”

“Yes, magic.” He didn’t classify whatever powers that the Night Class had. At least whatever Nichol didn’t rub Zero the wrong way. “Just be careful, okay? There’s been plenty of times in history that showed that human beings don’t take kindly to anything that was different.”

“I’ll take that into account.” They start to walk back to Cross’s house. “So tell me something.”

“What?”

“That item you brought out a little bit ago.” Nichol began. “What was that?”

This was going to be a long day.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichol meets Cross and gets registered as a student.

Zero’s body tenses up the closer they get to the Chairmen’s house. Throughout the walk, he never thought that he had to teach a teenager what a cell phone was. He handed the phone to Nichol who has been messing around with it ever since. It was quite amusing trying to explain the functions such as the internet and google, which Nichol thought he meant Moogle (He’s starting to think that this guy came straight from some weird Dungeons and Dragons world).

Now though, as they’re almost to the house, Zero couldn’t help but wish for his phone back so that he could help ease his stress before dealing with his adoptive father. He didn’t ask for it back though. The guy must have never experienced technology where he came from and it feels kind of cruel if Zero took the phone back.

They arrive at the house, banging could be heard from inside. Zero couldn’t help but release a groan. No doubt the old man decided to try to cook something. He turns around to focus on Nichol, who was still focused on the phone. “Hey,” He starts. He doesn’t want to startle the other and risk breaking the phone. God knows how many he had to replace after missions. He waits for Nichol to lift his head while simultaneously lowering the younger’s phone. “Look, whatever you do, if Cross offers you something to eat, just say no.”

Nichol raises an eyebrow. “Does he poison it or something?”

“Not intentionally.” He admits. “Cross and Yuki… neither of them knows how to cook and they always make something that’s completely inedible.” He lifts his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it. “Hell, I’m pretty sure that whatever they make is probably more dangerous than anything else on this planet.”

“So then, who does the cooking?”

“I do most of the time, though Cross tries to do it if I am not aware.”

“I see.” Nichol goes to say something else, only to flinch as the front door slams open by an excited Cross. Said man rushes over to give the poor boy a hug. Zero, in turn, watches with trepidation as he watches Cross practically suffocate Nichol.

“Oh, my little boy!” Cross almost yells. “Daddy’s finally getting his hug from you!” Zero could feel the air turn cold again, so he begrudgingly decided to save the dumbass before he got himself killed.

“Cross.” Zero quickly grabs the Headmaster before yanking him away from Nichol. He watches as said boy is crouched down with his hands on his legs, trying to catch his breath. A small look of panic passes sea-green eyes. After a few seconds of trying to calm himself down, he stands back up and fixes his glasses. The chilly air soon goes back to warm. 

“Jesus Christ, Cross.” Zero shakes the older man. “If you had taken just a fucking second, you would have realized that the guy you went after wasn’t me!” He lets Cross go, trying to control his irritation.

Cross takes a few seconds to look between the two boys, noticing the multiple differences between the two. He straightens himself out before offering a hand out to Nichol, who took the hand after almost a minute of hesitation. “I’m sorry about that, lad.” Cross smiles. The two of you look so alike if one doesn’t slow oneself down to really look between the two of you.”

“My hair is blue.” Nichol murmured. Still Cross ignored what he said as the older man grabbed his arm and then Zero’s trying to drag the two of them into the house. He didn’t get very far as the two were able to stand their ground. Eventually, he gives up and just ushers the two inside like a little kid wanting to show off his new toys.

He has them sit down at the kitchen table before rummaging around in the fridge. “Do you want anything to drink? Eat? I just tried out this new recipe that I found and-”

“No. Zero interrupted. “Just no. It’s been years since I’ve had my stomach pumped. I don’t want to relive the experience, old man.” 

Cross pouted before looking at Nichol, that cheerful smile back on his face. “And what about you? Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“No thank you,” Nichol answered without an ounce of hesitation.

“Fine, fine.” Cross cried out as he sat down in his chair in mock defeat. Before Zero could even say something though, Cross was back to his cheery self as the older man stared at Nichol. “I should introduce myself.” He reaches a hand for Nichol to grab and shake. “My name is Kaien Cross, though most of the students either refer to me as Headmaster or just Cross.” After the handshake he let’s the other’s hand go, “So, tell me about yourself. How did you find your way here and how are you already wearing a day class uniform?”

Zero blanched. Why the hell did the two not come up with some sort of backstory for why Nichol was here? He turned to look at Nichol who, surprisingly, did not look fazed by the question. Instead, Nichol raised an eyebrow, before speaking.

“I was coming to start my enrollment at your school when I became hurt.” He points at Zero, “Your student here found me and saved my life. He took me to the nurse’s station and lent me some clothes as mine were filthy.” At Cross’s look of doubt, Nichol continued, “Did you forget?” He asked. “I sent in my enrollment form months ago. You sent me an acceptance letter and everything.” He narrowed his eyebrows. “Surely you didn’t lose my paperwork, did you?”

Cross started to sweat. “Are you sure that you sent the letter here? Because I never received anything.”

Nichol nodded, still keeping his composure. “Yes, I am sure. I remember hearing about some of the extracurricular activities and knew that this was the place that I wanted to finish my education.”

“Right, right.” Now, Cross didn’t sound too sure of himself. “Maybe I accidentally threw it away with all of my junk mail.” He murmured to himself. “Was it possible that one letter from America?” He stopped his rambling, placing a big smile“Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr….” His face grew red. “I’m sorry, it seems that I don’t know your name.”

“Nichol.” Nichol Answered.

“Right, Nichol.” Cross stands up. I’ll just go grab a new application from my office.” With that, he turns around and leaves the kitchen. Zero listens to the footsteps and waits for the sound of a door opening and closing. After that, he turns to look at Nichol.

“We got a while.” Zero answers. “Cross can’t keep track of anything in that room he calls an office.” He shakes his head, “How did you lie like that?”

“What do you mean?” Nichol asked.

Zero moved closer. “Dude, you just lied through your teeth. I have never seen a teenager lie as you did, and with not an ounce of guilt afterward.” It was true, Zero himself wasn’t a particularly good liar. That’s why he refused to talk to people. It was too hard for him to not blurt out what he did when he wasn’t in school.

“It’s not that hard,” Nichol admitted. “Sometimes you have to falsify some information in order to achieve what you need.”

“You mean lie out of your ass.”

“To simplify it, yes.”

Zero sighed, shaking his head. He moved around to make sure that Cross wasn’t coming, before putting his attention back on Nichol. “Look, this is nice and all because, no doubt Cross is gullible enough to believe you. He’ll think that he accidentally shredded your paperwork.” At Nichol’s look of doubt, Zero shrugged. “Hey, it’s happened before. However, that still leaves out one significant detail.”

“I’m going to assume it’s the fact that I don’t have a last name.” Nichol guessed.

“Observant little bastard, aren’t you?” Zero murmured to himself. That factor may or not be a good thing depending on what happens later on. “Anyway yes.” He says, “You don’t have a last name and that’s going to raise some eyebrows. We’re going to need to come up with something fast so that no one questions your validity.”

“Right.” Nichol starts to mess with his glasses. “What do you suggest that I should do?”

Zero gets up to ruffle around in the kitchen cabinets, keeping an ear out for Cross. He finds an open envelope and a pen and brings it back to the table. He places the items down before sitting back into his seat. Dragging the envelope and pen to him, He starts to draw a line. “We are going to think of a good last name for you.” He points the pen at Nichol. “Now, give me something. Maybe a friend’s name since I doubt they’re going to show up.”

“I see.” Nichol takes the items before jotting down some words. After a minute or two of writing, he hands the list back to Zero.

“Let’s see,” He murmurs. “Rain, Laswell, Fina, Lid, Jake, Sakura…” Zero looks back up at Nichol, eyebrow raised. “Seriously? These are the names that you could come up with?” He asks.

“Those are the names of my friends.”

“Reeeally?” Zero drawled. “Well, no offense but, your friends have some strange names. The only normal ones I see on here are Jake and Sakura, neither of which would make very good last names for you.”

“Says the guy whose first name literally means nothing.” 

Zero points the pen at the other and opens his mouth, only to shut it right after. “Touche.” He admitted. He rubs his head, preparing for the headache that was sure to come. “Look, none of these are going to work.” He stops rubbing his head to look Nichol in the eyes. “Is there anyone else that you care about? Anyone at all?”

He watches as Nichol starts to bite his lip. “There are two that I really cared about,” Nichol admitted. “Their names were Luka and Elle.”

“Luka and Elle, huh?” Zero repeated, writing down the extra names. Whoever these names belonged to, they must have been very important given the pained expression that appeared on Nichol’s face for a small second. “Well, I don’t think that Luka would be a good last name for you. Elle however,” He creates a line before writing down some suggestions. “Elle is small enough that we could change it some.”

“Change it how?” Zero didn’t know why but, something in that tone told him to be careful. He handed the envelope, just as Cross’s door opened and the older man came back to the table with a cheery look on his face. Zero could hear paper being crumpled up from beside him. He hoped that Nichol had chosen something instead of just winging it.

“Okay then.” Cross sits down with enrollment form in front of him. “Now, because of the huge issue that I may have caused you, I am going to help sign you up so that you don’t have to waste any more of your time.” His smile grows sheepish as he rubs the back of his head. “Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience that I may have caused you.”

“None taken, sir,” Nichol replied. Zero wanted to laugh at the situation. Instead, he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself.

“So tell me then,” Cross places the pen to the first line of the paper. “What’s your name?”

“Nichol…” Nichol hesitated, looking down at the table. “Elliot.” He whispered.

“Come again?” Cross asked. “I didn’t quite catch that.

“My name is Nichol Elliot, sir,” Nichol responded. On the outside, the boy was calm and collected. However, Zero couldn’t help but see a flash of pain shoot through the boy’s eyes.

“Nichol Elliot.” Cross jotted down on the form. “So then, what age are you, Mr. Elliot?”

“I am eighteen.”

“Huh,” Cross looked up, waving the pencil between the two boys. “My, you’re a couple of years older than my son here.”

Zero let out a grunt, “Adopted son.”

Cross didn’t react, he just continued to ask questions. It wasn’t until he had gotten to the last question that Zero had started to inwardly panic. “Now then, can you tell me your social security number?”

“Social Security number?” Nichol asked. He looks over at Zero who just shook his head in a panic. How the hell did the silverette forget about the stupid social security number? Most countries have something like it.

“Yes.” Cross began. “Do you have your little card? Most people may keep it in their wallets for when they’re needed.”

“My wallet,” Nichol murmured. He stood up and started rifling through the pockets of his borrowed uniform. Zero had no idea but, he watched as a look of panic started to form on the other’s face. “My wallet.” He repeated. “I can’t find my wallet. I don’t understand where it could be.”

“Woah, Woah.” Cross raised his hands out. “Calm down now. You mentioned that you were injured when Zero found you. Maybe you had been mugged.” He replied. “Do you know what had happened to you?”

“No sir,” Nichol replied. “The last thing I had remembered was that I was attacked from behind. Something had come in contact with the back of my skull.”

“So then, why don’t we worry about that later,” Cross stated. “We’ll get you all settled in and then try to figure out everything.” He picks the paperwork before tapping it gently against the table, making sure that the forms were even and in order. “Now then, let’s talk about dorm rooms. Usually, everyone in the day dorm is roomed together with another of the same sex. However, all of the male students have been paired up so I don’t have anyone that you can room with. Do you mind having a room to yourself?”

“Actually sir,” Nichol began. “I have always shared rooms with family, so, unfortunately, I am not used to rooming by myself. Is there anyone that would be willing to room with me?”

“No, kid. I’m sorry.”

Nichol looked down, before looking over at Zero. “Well, what about Zero?” He asked, looking back at Cross. “Would his roommate care if Zero roomed with me?”

Zero was kind of surprised about that question. Due to the vampirism, Zero hadn’t shared a room since he and Ichiru were little and their parents were still alive. A big part of him did not think that this was a good idea. What would happen if he became overwhelmed by his thirst and hurt the other? Despite his cold demeanor, Zero actually did care for others. However, a small part of him was kind of excited over the possibility that someone actually wanted to room with him.

Cross must have been thinking the same things that Zero’s mind was, for that kind smile soon turned to a seriously cold expression. “I am afraid that’s not possible, Mr. Elliot.” He states. “Due to an illness that Zero has, he cannot room with anyone. In fact, Zero has a room here in this house.” Said boy couldn’t help but snort as Nichol already knew that he lived here.

“Are you sure, Sir? I can make sure that Zero takes any medication that he needs.”

Before Cross could say anything, Zero decided to add his two cents in, making sure to use his trump card.

“Please… dad.” Zero began. “Please, let me do this. I want to feel like everyone else. Let me live in the dorm rooms.” He could see that using the word, dad, had finally gotten Cross to crack. Instead of saying anything, the headmaster just sighed and nodded his head. “Thank you.” Zero let out a small smile. He stands up from his chair and heads to the stairs. “Now then, I am going to start packing what I need.” Zero looked at Nichol, “Would either of you like to help?”

* * *

The three traveled through the dorm, Zero and Nichol each carrying one box. One box was fully packed with Zero’s clothes, the other was filled with some other essential items that carefully concealed Nichol’s outfit. Cross carried Zero’s blanket and pillow, dropping the items onto the floor when they eventually made it to a door. The older man, rifled through his pockets before one hand appeared with a key set with only two keys. He unlocks the door with one key before grabbing the items he dropped and walks inside, letting the other two to follow him.

The room was rather plain. The walls were white and the floor was a plain brown carpet. The beds and dressers were like any traditional furniture that one would pick up from a random store, along with the two desks that sat at opposite sides from each other. All in all, it wasn’t anything spectacular.

Zero and Nichol placed the boxes on top of one of the beds before turning around to look at Cross. Cross just stood there with a sad look on his face. “Look at you,” He cried. “My little boy has decided that he wants to leave daddy’s nest.” He reaches his hands out to grab at Zero’s cheeks, only for the said boy to dodge. “Oh, you’re growing up too fast.” He takes the keyring and separates the two keys, giving one to each boy. “Now, this is your dorm key, do not lose it.” He looks back at Zero, “Are you sure you want to do this?” He asks. “With your health, I still think that you should stay at home with me.”

“Cross,” Zero sighed. “I’ll be fine. This is what I want to do.” To help ease the headmaster’s worry carefully wraps his arms around the older man in a halfhearted hug. “I promise that I won’t do anything to him.” He whispers into Cross’s ear.

“You do that,” Cross whispered back. “Make sure that you keep taking those tablets. We don’t want you to hurt your new friend.”

Zero frowned, hating the fact that he couldn’t be trusted around others. “Yeah,” He unwraps his arms, before taking a few steps toward his new bed. “Yea, I’ll do that.” He says, not looking at Cross now. “I’ll take my medication.”

“Good,” Cross says. “Now then, I have to leave. I assume that the two of you can take care of the unpacking by yourselves?”

“Yes,” Both boys answered though one answered a little more halfheartedly than the other.

“Okay then.” With that, Cross left the room, leaving Zero and Nichol to themselves. Zero didn’t say anything. He just opened up a box and started to put his stuff where they belonged. A hand gently landed on his shoulder. He didn’t tense up, just turned around to see Nichol standing there with a small frown on his face.

“Are you okay?” Nichol asked. “You seemed a little tense back there.”

“Yeah.” Zero grew a tiny smile on his face to reassure the other. “I’m fine.” He lifts up the box, showing the contents for all the world to see. “Now do you mind helping me unpack?”

“Sure.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero teaches Nichol some history and we get a small glimpse of other characters.

“So tell me,” Zero began. The two boys are sitting on their respective beds, after unpacking what little Zero had brought with him. At the moment, they were playing catch with a rubber ball. He throws the ball and waits to catch it before continuing. “When I had found you yesterday, you were passed out with about a pale full of water inside of you. This morning, you were walking around as if nothing had happened to you.” He catches the ball, and fiddles with it in his hands. “You should have had something wrong with you. Hell, Nurse Sato was so sure that you could have ended up with pneumonia. Instead, you seem about as healthy as a normal teenage boy.” He throws the ball. “So, why is that?”

Nichol catches the ball. “Where I come from, there are two distinct positions that are very important in my family. These are the Water Priestess and the Warden of the Waters. I am of the latter. The Warden of the Waters has protected my country’s water shrine for many generations. Our power makes us virtually immune to the dangers of water. ” He tosses the ball.

“So, you’re like a more intelligent version of Percy Jackson.” Nichol gave a small look of confusion forcing Zero to continue, “You know, Percy Jackson. There’s a whole fictional book series and then some centered around him and other…. You know what, you’re not from here so I’m just going to drop it.” He interrupts himself. “You said your family,” Zero raises his hand to catch the ball. “Can only members of your family have these positions?” He throws the ball, only for it to fly past and hit the wall behind Nichol. “And what's a water shrine?”

“Only those with my heritage can be a warden or a priestess,” Nichol answered. “ And the water shrine held our crystal that, along with other crystals throughout the world, basically held our world together.” He says, “Now, the Water Priestess had a more important job. The Water Priestess is chosen by the crystal to protect our waters. She also had the task of interacting with our Water God.”

“Water God?” Zero asked. Maybe he wasn’t too far off about the other being just like a fictional character. “Who’s that?” He watches as Nichol reaches for his grimoire, flipping through pages before stopping.

“Leviathan.” He answers, “The Tidemother.” He hands the grimoire over so that Zero could see the page. The drawing of a regal, serpent-like dragon lay on the page, causing Zero to gasp. The creature’s coloring was mostly a dark purple with pink covering the tips of its fins, beak, and horns. Long whiskers traipse around its body, starting from the creature’s head. It was a beautiful creature. Just looking at the drawing, Zero couldn’t help but shudder at the feel of power that he expected the creature to have. He hands the grimoire back.

“You called it Leviathan?” He asked. Didn’t that name come from Hebrew folklore? He wanted to ask but doubted Nichol had even heard about this world's many religions.

“Yes, her name is Leviathan,” Nichol answered. “She is my country’s God. For a while, she had been corrupted by a dangerous enemy. However, with the help of my siblings and friends, we were able to sedate her. My sister was taking care of Leviathan and The God’s home, trying to purify the waters again.”

“So, if you’re immune to water, why did I find you with tons of water in you?” 

“With a doubt, I believe it was because I was knocked unconscious. With my brain going into fight or flight, my body couldn’t process what to do with the water that I inhaled, making it seem like I had been drowning to anyone that didn’t know any better.”He answered. “Like you and your healer.”

Zero opened his mouth to ask another question, only to be interrupted by his phone going off. He reaches for his phone and turns it on, finding a text.

Group of E’s spotted downtown. Take care of them tonight.

Zero sighed. One of these days, he was going to get killed. Either from the monsters that he’s been sent out to kill or by his own bullet. It didn’t matter how he just knew that he was going to die soon. What was the point of staying around when everyone hated his very existence? Hell, he was pretty sure that Cross only took him in because the older man felt pity.

“What was that?” Nichol asked. “That noise? I heard it at Crossover but didn’t know what it was.”

Startled, Zero looked up. He had completely forgotten that someone else was here. “Oh, the noise means that I got a text.” He puts his phone away. “Anyway, it’s not that important. Why don’t I show you some of our classwork so that you’re not too lost tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Nichol asked. “You appeared to be depressed by whatever you had read.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Zero made a small smile to ease the other’s worries. He stands up from his bed and heads toward his desk where his textbooks lay. Grabbing the one on Japanese History, he sits down on the floor in front of his bed, urging Nichol to do the same. “Now, before you do anything here,” He begins. “You need to know some of our country’s history, mostly because Cross is going to put you in a different grade from me and I don’t want you to be lost.” He opens the book, flipping the pages to the class’s current lesson. “So, we are learning about World War II right now.” He moves the book so that it sat on the floor between them. Pointing on a picture of men marching. Blanketed figures were carried on poles held by those that were marching.“This is a picture that was taken during what was known as the Bataan Death March.”

“The Bataan Death March,” Nichol repeated. “Given the name, I doubt that this event was very pleasant.”

Zero snorted rolling his eyes. “Smartass,” He says, “Anyway yes. The Bataan Death March was a time during World War II after the Japanese Imperial Army had taken over Bataan. The army had forced around 60,000 prisoners, either American or Filipino, to march from Bataan and Mariveles all the way to Camp O'Donnell. The march was treacherous as the prisoners were sick with barely any food or water. Not only that, the Imperial army would torture, even kill, some of the prisoners. It was believed that at least 20,000 of the prisoners had died during the march.”

“Why?” Nichol asked. “What did the prisoners do to warrant such extremes?”

“Really, nothing,” Zero admitted. “This was during a war. The Americans were guarding a line of defense. When we invaded, they surrendered.” He flipped the page showing another picture. “Unfortunately for them, the Japanese are very prideful people. They would sooner kill themselves than surrender to the enemy, so seeing these enemy soldiers surrender, they didn’t take too kindly to that.”

Nichol’s eyes were wider now, as he took in the information. “So what happened after?”

“Well, it wasn’t pretty,” Zero admitted, “In fact…”

* * *

It was ten by the time they had finished the impromptu lesson. Now, both boys are laying in bed, one sleeping quietly, with the other waiting in silence. He lays on his bed, back facing the other, as he waits for the perfect time to sneak out. He didn’t want to worry the other over what he was going to do. However, he wanted to make sure that the other wouldn’t wake up. He silently rolls around in his bed, searching in the dark for any signs that the other boy was awake. Instead, all he could hear was the steady breathing of one who was in the deeper stages of sleep.

Satisfied, he creeps out of bed and treads quietly to the dresser where his few belongings had gone. He quietly opens the drawer, grabbing for his belongings, before shutting the drawer. He quickly changes, making sure to leave his borrowed night clothes neatly folded on his bed for the other to find.

_It’s not like I’m planning on coming back,_ He thought. He heads to the door, grabbing whatever he needs before opening it. He opens it slowly so as to not make any unnecessary noise. He heads out, but not before turning around to look at his roommate.

_I’m sorry._ He thinks. _You seem like a friendly guy, but I cannot stay here any longer than I’ve been._

With that, he shuts the door and leaves.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Inside a small room, a tall male in purple with long black hair pulled into a ponytail is currently staring at a map. There’s a long thin sword hitched to his right side and a bigger, thicker sword on his back. He’s growing frustrated, but tries to keep it low so that his teammates wouldn’t notice. The door opens quietly and a girl with blond hair walks in, a beautifully designed bow was clasped in her hand and a lotus flower lay in her hair. She closes the door before walking over to the young man.

“How’s it going, Lasswell?” She asked.

“To be honest, Fina?” At Fina’s nod, Lasswell continues. “Not good.” He points toward a spot on the map. “We lost Nichol somewhere around here and no one has seen a single hair of his.” He looks back at Fina. “How’re the search parties going? They’re not too upset about putting a pause on our search for Rain, are they?”

Fina smiled as she placed her bow down on the table next to the map. “No one is upset, Lasswell.” She soothes. “Everyone cares about Nichol, even the sworn six. They don’t want to lose him. Everyone is trying their best to find him.” Her smile grows. “And besides, no offense but, Nichol is probably the only reason that we have made it this far in the first place. His plans are what keeps us from getting killed.”

Lasswell chuckled. “Can’t deny that. Look at the time that we were all in prison except for him and Sakura who had stolen some guard uniforms to sneak in and free us. That was an interesting experience.”

Fina goes to say something, only to be interrupted by the sound of the door opening. This time, a beautiful woman with bright pink hair saunders in. She holds a staff, the top of it split into multiple ways, resembling a flower in an odd sort of way. “I have some news.” The woman remarked.

Fina and Laswell tense up, waiting for the devastating news. “Have you found anything, Citra?” Lasswell asked.

“Nichol has not been found,” Citra admitted. “However, I had an Idea and conversed with the Espers, particularly Leviathan, to see if they could sense our missing tactician.”

“And?” Fina asked. “Could they sense him?”

“No,” Citra stated. “They could not. However, there is no reason to mourn as I had found out something interesting about the waters that we had traversed when Nichol was dragged in.”

“What about them?” Lasswell asked.

Citra walked over to the map, pointing at the waters. “I learned from the locals that these specific waters are like a gateway.”

“A gateway?” Fina asked. “So, like a destination to somewhere else?”

“Yes now, let me finish now.” Citra snapped. “Anyway, this gateway is different than what you may think. Stories say that the waters take you to where you are needed.”

“Needed,” Lasswell repeated. “Where else is Nichol needed besides with us?”

“Do you think…” Fina hesitated before continuing, “Do you think that Rain may have needed him?”

Rain, the main reason that they were all in Paladia in the first place. Rain had disappeared after saving their homeworld of Lapis from being completely decimated. Everyone had suspected that Rain was in Paladia which was the homeworld of their original enemies, and Rain’s father. Lasswell and his teammates had come here to search for their friend.

“Could be but,” Citra bit her lip, “If that was the case then, either Rain had never been in Paladia and we’re on some weird Chocobo hunt or…”

Lasswell tensed. “Or what?”

“Or, Nichol is not in Paladia anymore.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero goes on a hunt. It doesn't go as he expected.

_ He flinches in terror and pain as blood rushes from the bites in his neck. Looking around at the familiar-looking room, he can see two adults, one male, and one female, lying not very far with blood spilling the floor in a twisted sort of painting. The woman was blonde and the male had a strange silver coloring to his hair. Neither adults were moving. _

_ He looks away from them, turning to look at two more figures standing in the doorway, covered in shadows. He focuses on the smaller silhouette. “Brother,” He whimpers. “What’s going on?” _

_ The silhouette steps forward showing off a young boy that looked exactly like him. The boy grows a smile so sharp, piranhas would be weary., “This is all your fault, big brother.” He practically hisses. “If you hadn't been born, then none of this would have happened to them.” he points to the bodies still laying on the floor. _

_ “What are you talking about?” He cried. _

_ “You know what I mean.” His brother grins. “We all would have been just fine without you.” He leans forward into the boy’s face and holds up a small knife. “In fact, I’m going to do what I was supposed to do long ago.” He lunges forward aiming the knife at the boy’s eye. _

Zero wakes with a scream just at the edge of his lips. He sits up in his bed, shoving his head into his hands. God, why does he keep having that dream? That wasn’t even what had happened. Ichiru had never even bothered to talk to him. Hell, his brother had just left him on the bloody floor of their living room to die.

_ God, I’m fucked up _ , he thinks. He looks around his room and almost has a panic attack. Where was he? This wasn’t his bedroom. He catches a glimpse of something big out of the corner of his eye and turns around. It was a bed. Zero couldn’t get a good glimpse of it because the room was dark, however, he could have sworn he saw something laying on top of the blankets.

_Nichol._ Zero had forgotten that he moved into the dorms last night. He rubbed his eyes. Nichol must have gone searching for the bathroom. Zero was stuck trying to figure out if he should go look for the other, or leave for his mission and let Nichol find it on his own. He takes a glance at his phone, checking to see if he had any free time. The phone stated it was after midnight causing Zero to grimace. _Well, looks like Nichol’s going to have to find his own way,_ Zero thinks. He gets up from the bed and hurriedly gets dressed. He heads for the door, grabbing Bloody Rose on his way. “Another day in paradise,” He murmurs.

He sneaks through the hallway, making sure that he wouldn’t be noticed by any late nighters. Now that he’s rooming in the dorms, he doesn’t want anyone to get curious about what he gets up to when the sun goes down. He reaches the front door, opening it and then gently shutting it once he’s outside.

The night air was cool and steady. Not a breeze to be felt. Zero stands in front of the building, basking in the peace and quiet of the night. He didn’t want to admit it but he loved being out at night. It was the only time he could himself and not be bothered.

After getting his fill of the night sky, Zero heads out, leaving the school grounds and heading towards his destination. He climbs up a building, getting onto the room and then jumps onto the next building and then the next. He repeats this until he comes across the abandoned warehouse that was his coordinates.

The warehouse was trashed with broken glass and bricks scattered in the yard. Zero had to strain his ears before he could detect what sounded like movement coming from inside. It was quiet, but the shuffling was there.

He sneaks closer to the edge of the roof he’s on, and quickly jumps down. Before he makes it all the way, he rolls, making sure to soften the landing somewhat. Once he stands back up, he draws his gun and cocks it. He sneaks over to the entrance, and puts his back to the wall, poking his head through the doorway just enough to try to get a glimpse of the vampires.

A level E, female from the looks of it, was standing not very far from the doorway. She stood staring at a wall opposite from the entrance. Zero couldn’t help but think that the bloodsucker looked lost.

It didn’t matter. Zero moved his body so that he could aim Bloody Rose. He moves the sight, making sure it was aimed where he wanted, before finally pulling the trigger.

Like always, his aim was true. The bullet left the chamber and entered the back of the Level E’s head. Blood and brain matter went everywhere. The creature couldn’t even screech as she crumbled to the ground, not moving an inch.

Zero moves his body back to where it was behind the wall. He waits a minute before taking another glance around. Surprisingly, no other level E came running at the gunshot. Zero starts to sneak his way inside, body-hugging the wall. He heads toward another room, gun ready for any movement.

The next room was bigger, with baren shelves scattered everywhere. The main area, Zero realized. He could see the moon shining down from broken glass in the skylights. There were more Level E’s in this room, but he’s not sure how many. He counted at least ten but there may be more. Doing what he did at the entrance, he quickly aimed and shot one of the level Es before aiming and shooting another in the head.

This time, the other ferals noticed the gunshots and came running. More come from gaps in the ceiling and walls or from doorways that were originally empty. However many there are now though, there were too many to count.

Zero cursed as he moved inside the room. No point in hiding anymore if they knew where he was. He lifted Bloody Rose and fired. He didn’t take the time to aim, just fired. The bullets mostly hit arms and legs, though a few heads occasionally exploded from lucky hits. However, it didn’t matter as there were too many Level Es and Zero didn’t exactly have an unlimited supply of bullets.

_ This is it, _ he thinks as he backs into a corner with the hoard of ferals lapping at his heels. One even got close enough to swipe at Zero’s cheek with its elongated claws causing a bead of blood to prepare. He starts breathing through his mouth to avoid the scent of his blood.  _ This is how I’m going to die. _

He doesn’t though as a gust of freezing air blows through the building. The first row of ferals quickly turns into icicles before shattering into small dust-sized particles. Zero grits his teeth in anger.  _ Aido. What the hell is that bloodsucker doing here?  _ He shoots two more ferals while searching for any sign of the blonde noble. No doubt the pureblood bastard had sent the noble to spy on him.

He doesn’t have to look very far as a body soon drops down beside him from above. The body adjusts himself and Zero couldn’t help but gape at the sight. It wasn’t Aido like he had thought. It was Nichol, wearing the exact same clothes that Zero had found him in. He had one hand holding his grimoire open and towards his body. His other hand was stretched out with that metal fan splayed like the wing of a bird in flight, pointing at the coming ferals. He looks over at Zero, not saying anything but just nodding.

Zero nods back and gets into position, gun pointing at the hoard. The fight doesn’t last much longer as a torrent of ice and bullets rang through the room. Killing the ferals. Zero admitted to himself that the other boy seemed to know what he was doing. Whether the boy was some kind of wizard or just some freak experiment, at least he was able to destroy more ferals at once. Bloody Rose could only shoot one feral at a time.

They finish off the hoard in record time. The floor shined with blood and ice mixed together in a morbidly beautiful mosaic. Bodies litter the ground, though there weren’t as many as there should have due to Nichol’s ice magic destroying the rest.

Both boys stood in the warehouse, panting and covered in sweat. They turn to look at each other, neither saying anything for a while until…

“What are you doing here?” They say at the same time.

Nichol grimaces and steps forward, placing a hand on Zero’s cheek. Surprised by the contact, Zero flinches back. “You’re hurt.” Nichol murmurs. He removes his hand and reaches for his grimoire. Zero doesn’t know what the other is planning.

Nichol starts to glow as he opens his grimoire. Soon, strange symbols start to float and fly out of it as he points his hand at Zero and snaps his fingers.

All of a sudden, all of Zero’s exhaustion leaves his worn-out body. He feels like he could run a hundred laps around the school. He raises his hand, touching the spot on his cheek that had been slashed. His fingertips came away dry. Shocking purple soon met with serious green.

“What did you do? I feel like I’ve had a giant energy drink.”

“It’s an ability of mine called ancient formula,” Nichol stated as he shut his grimoire, putting it somewhere that Zero couldn’t see. “I can only do it under specific circumstances but, when done successfully, it can energize and heal others.”

“Right.” Zero nodded, not sure if he fully understood what Nichol was saying. Maybe Nichol isn’t the one who needs his head checked out.

“What were those?” Nichol asked as he motioned towards the dead bodies. “They didn’t look human, but they also didn’t look undead.”

Zero didn’t answer the other’s question. Instead, he narrowed his eyes. “First off, I should be the one asking the questions. For one, why are you here and not in our dorm room?”

“I was searching for clues when I heard some noises coming from here,” Nichol admitted.

“Clues for what?”

Nichol looked away, a small look of shame crossed his face. “A way back to my friends.”

Zero sighed, shaking his head. To be honest, he couldn’t actually fault the guy for being homesick. “So what? Did you leave while I was still sleeping?” That made sense actually. Zero hadn’t seen Nichol in the other bed but just brushed it off as something simple.

“Yes.”

He shakes his head at the older. “ Nichol, you just don’t leave without telling someone. You don’t know this place as I do. You could have gotten lost or hurt. Hell, you could have gotten killed or worse.” He throws his hand up to rub his face in defeat. “Where did you go, anyway?”

“I went to a tavern. Unfortunately, the people there aren’t very friendly and kicked me out not long after I stepped into it.” Nichol stated. “They kept inquiring about my age and something about identification.”

Zero groaned, slapping his face. “You went to a bar? Nichol, you’re not old enough to be in those sorts of places. Why did you think that it was alright?”

“I did not realize that my age would cause me any issues.” Nichol grimaced, a clear sign of frustration flashed across his features. “ In my world, there were no such restrictions.”

“Well you’re not in your world, you’re on Earth!” Zero snapped. He paused, taking in a couple of deep breaths. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just, I’m not exactly a very social person.” He blushed at his admission.

“I understand,” Nichol assured. “Though, if I may, what were those creatures?”

Zero doesn’t say anything right away. Instead, he looks at his phone, seeing the time as 2:33 in the morning. “I don’t have time. We need to head back to our room and get some sleep for school tomorrow.” He closes his phone and looks at Nichol. “How about this, we’ll have a game of twenty questions tomorrow evening or something.”

Nichol agrees and they leave the warehouse. Instead of taking his previous route, Zero chooses to just stroll along the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Bloody Rose was strapped to his belt like usual.

They reach the boy’s dorms after about another half hour. Zero reaches for the door but, before he opens it, he turns around to look Nichol in the eye. “Whatever you do,” He starts, “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw today. This does not get out to anyone, you hear?”

Nichol looked offended. “What do I look like? Those imbecilic girls that scream and gush over a bunch of snobbish teenagers?”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for school and explanations are in order.

Zero sighed in frustration as he stared at the chalkboard in front of him. It was the first class of the day and the teacher is droning on and on about something important that Zero really should be listening to. Instead, he was lost in his thoughts, thinking about what had happened before the school session had started.

_ “So, tell me,” Nichol begins as Zero sits down to lace up his boots. What were you doing last night, and what were those creatures?” _

_ Zero sighed as he looked up at Nichol. Said boy was messing with his tie. “Look, it’s none of your business what I was doing out there, and you don’t need to know anything about those things.” _

_ “Shouldn’t I though?” Nichol questioned. “I did see you and those things attacking each other, and whatever those things were, they did look like they wanted to eat you. I do believe that I deserve some sort of explanation.” _

_ Zero groaned and stood up, grabbing for Bloody Rose. He heads to the door but before he opens it, he turns to look at Nichol. “Look.” He begins as he gives the other boy a hard stare. “You don’t need to know anything. All that you should be worrying about is trying to blend in, and going home to wherever you came from. That’s what you need to focus on. Not what I do in my spare time. So shut up, and leave me alone” _

_ With that, he opened their door, and stepped out into the dorm hallway, leaving Nichol in the room by himself. _

Zero groaned to himself. Why the hell did he leave the guy to roam around by himself? Nichol thought it was okay to go inside of a bar, even though he’s not even old enough to drink. Also, who the hell goes to a bar for information? At best, you’re going to get groped. At worst... Well, everyone knows what can happen when you have people that are so inebriated that they can’t take no for an answer.

Except, Zero’s starting to think that Nichol may not know that. Zero doesn’t know anything about where Nichol comes from. The guy seems smarter than most of the students here, but he may not understand how dangerous people can be. Sure Nichol can cast spells or whatever, and he has come across creatures that Zero has only caught a glimpse of in that strange book that the other carries. That doesn’t mean that Nichol has experienced how cruel humans can be.

“And of course, I had to be a jackass and leave him to find his own way.” Zero thought. “All because of a stupid question. God. No wonder everyone hates me.” He needs to fix things. 

With that in mind, he begins to raise his hand to ask for the bathroom so that he could search for his roommate. Before the teacher even notices though, there’s a gentle knock on the classroom door. The teacher yells “Come in.” and the door slowly opens, revealing a familiar face for the class to see.

“Hello,” Nichol waves. He’s wearing the day class uniform, though instead of wearing the school tie, he opted for his scarf instead. “I apologize for being late. I’m afraid I got a bit lost trying to find the office.” He raises his hand and gives the teacher a folded up note. “My name is Nichol Elliot. I am a new student at this school.”

“Mr. Elliot.” The teacher grabs his hand and gives it a firm shake. “That’s okay. Did you not have anyone to show you around?”

“I did not think that I needed any help, sir.” Zero could hear the lie slide easily out of the boy’s mouth. “I figured that it wouldn’t be too hard trying to find my way around.” Nichol gives a small cough into his fist. “Unfortunately, I was mistaken.”

A couple of students chuckled and one could be heard whispering, “Arrogant idiot.” Zero couldn’t help but glare at the back of the perpetrators’ heads. Why did teenagers have to be such assholes to those that didn’t deserve it?

“Well, try not to make such a habit of it from now on.” The teacher began. I don’t want to hear you say that you were late again because you thought that you didn't need any help. Many of us aren’t afraid of handing out detentions on peoples’ first day of school. Also, last I checked, scarves were not part of the school uniform. I expect to see you without it tomorrow. Now find a seat and sit down.”

“Yes sir.” Nichol answers and turns around. Zero wanted to raise his hand so that Nichol could find him. However, he knew that if he did that, people would start to question what he was doing. Instead, Zero placed his head on the desk, crossing his arms underneath so that he wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.

The teacher started back up on whatever he was talking about, as footsteps could be heard heading quietly down one of the aisles. Zero refused to lift his head for fear of disappointment. With how he had acted earlier, he wouldn’t be surprised if Nichol chose to sit by someone else.

Surprisingly, the footsteps drew closer until they stopped, right next to Zero’s desk. “May I sit here?” A soft voice startles Zero out of his thoughts. He looks up, noticing Nichol standing right by the empty seat to Zero’s right.

“Oh sure,” Zero answered after a few seconds of staring.

Nichol sits down, “May I borrow your book? I’m afraid that I have not received my yet.”

“How about we share?” With that, they bring their desks closer, and Zero places his textbook in between them, its pages open to what the teacher had on the board.

“Listen, Zero,” Nichol whispered. “I am sorry about upsetting you earlier this morning. I did not realize that my questions would upset you so much.”

“Huh?” Zero asked. “You shouldn’t have to apologize to me. I shouldn’t have gotten angry and stormed off like that. I left you to find your way here by yourself. You could have gotten hurt or lost and I wouldn’t have known it.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t have acted like that if I hadn’t questioned you as I did.”

The sound of the chalkboard screeching caught Zero’s attention. “Let’s just agree to disagree on this before we’re caught whispering to each other and get detention. We can finish this up during lunch.”

With that, the two focus back on the teacher’s ramblings, following along in the book and answering questions when called upon.

_ Brrring _

The bell goes off and everyone stands up to leave, all except for Nichol who gives Zero a confused look. “What was that?” He whispered. “Are we under attack?”

“No.” Zero chuckled. “That’s the bell letting us know that it’s time to go to our next class. Come on.” He ushers the other out of the classroom. “Where’s your schedule that the secretary gave you.”

Nichol hands him a folded up slip of paper. Zero unfolds it and whistles. “Wow, you and I have almost the same schedule. How’d you get into almost all AP classes?”

“I tested out of the normal classes.” Nichol fiddles with his glasses. “It appears that your world and my world are similar when it comes to language and mathematics. Though your history is a bit different, you did help me with that last night and I borrowed your book to study while I wasn’t in the placement.”

“I see that,” Zero said. “It looks like the only class we don’t share is Gym.”

“Yes, unfortunately, I am not athletically inclined like others on my team.”

“That’s fine. It’s not like you need to worry too much since you’re not staying. Now, let's head to our next class. Plus, during lunch, I need to show you something.”

Later, after gathering their food from the cafeteria, Zero leads Nichol down an empty hallway. Papers were strewn everywhere after students rushed to put their school stuff away. Soon, they stop at a bare door. A sign lay on the next to it showing what looked like someone walking up a set of stairs.

Zero opens the door, waving at Nichol to follow him. Like the sign suggested, the door opened up to a set of stairs. Zero started to climb, food tray in hand, “Hurry up,” Zero said not unkindly.

The stairs lead to another door with the sign saying “Roof”. Nichol watches as Zero bends down, messing with the doorknob, “Almost got it… there.” He stands back up, and opens the door, letting in a stream of sunlight. He turns around, his facial expression serious.“Come on,” He starts. “We need to talk.”

They walk onto the roof. Zero sets his tray onto the school’s air conditioning unit, before walking toward the edge. He plops down, letting his legs hang off. He hears a small thud as Nichol sits down next to him.

“I guess I owe you an explanation for last night.” Zero began. Nichol doesn’t say anything, which Zero is thankful for. He didn’t want a reason to chicken out of this.

“Yesterday, those creatures you saw me fighting, are dangerous monsters known on earth as vampires.”

“Vampires,” Nichol murmured. “My team has come across vampires before. Though, the vampires that we’ve come across were never like that. Those creatures you faced acted as if they didn’t have minds of their own. They were too animalistic. Almost like the types of ghouls and zombies that we have fought.”

“That might be because there are different types of vampires here.” Zero continued. “There’s a sort of hierarchy of vampires. The ones that are closer to the top of the hierarchy are those that were born a vampire. The bitten ones are lower on the hierarchy. The ones that you and I fought yesterday, are at the lowest level. These vampires are feral without a single ounce of sanity to them. The only emotion that they feel is hunger.”

“So, they are a danger to society.” Nichol guessed. “And you do what? Hunt them?”

“I know, I know. It sounds crazy.” Zero fiddled with his hands. “There’s a reason that mortals aren’t supposed to know about this. Humans have a habit of-”

“Your strategy sucks.”

Surprised by the interruption, Zero turned to look Nichol in the eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Your strategy,” Nichol repeated. “You fought like someone who planned to die before I joined in. You need to better plan how you are going to fight before you end up as those monsters’ next meal.”

“What are you talking about?” Zero was a touch offended now. “My strategy is fine.”

“You need help.” Nichol reprimanded. “That’s what I’m going to do. I refuse to let the first person that I meet die because he’s an idiot that doesn’t know how to plan his fights.”

“Yeah?” Zero rolled his eyes. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“It’s easy really since I am a tactician."

Citra gently swiped a few strands of pink hair from her face as she stared straight into the eyes of one of the most powerful espers that their team had formed a contract with. Bahamut, the dragon king, stared back. Its black and red scales were sharp enough to cut diamonds and its wings were glowing from the dangerous flames that its body emitted. Other creatures are scattered around the room, from a beautiful woman with a fishtail in place of legs, to a giant white wolf with a feral look on its face.

“Still nothing?” A child’s voice asks from behind her. Citra turns around to see a young girl that looked about twelve years old. Her bright pink hair was in pigtails, and her golden eyes had shown a spark of wisdom that most children her age lacked.

“Not, a single clue, sister.” Citra murmured. She turned her focus back to Bahamut. “The espers have not been much help, have they Bahamut?”

“I have already told you, evoker,” A deep gravelly voice filled the room. “I cannot sense your tactician anywhere in Paladia or Lapis.”

“But, he can’t be dead.” The little girl yelled at the dragon. “He’s out there somewhere and-”

“Hush, Sakura.” Citra interrupted. “He never said that Nichol was dead.” She turned to glare at the esper. “Isn’t that right, Bahamut?”

“You are correct,” Bahamut answered. “Leviathan is still able to feel her disciple. Though she cannot pinpoint where the boy is, she can tell that he is still alive.”

“So what should we do?”

“The only plan that I can suggest is to trace back to where you lost him and send someone else through the portal. They may be able to find your tactician.”

“May,” Citra murmured. “I assume that the chance of whoever we send, being in the same place as Nichol, is going to be very slim.”

“Correct.”

“Is there a way to boost our chances?”

Bahamut stays silent for a few before answering, “There used to be a spell, able to bind two beings together for a short time.”

“Wouldn’t they both have to be here?”

“Not necessarily. As long as you have that being’s possession, you can bind the two.”

“So, if we get something that belongs to Nichol,” Sakura started, “Then, whoever we bind it to, will be able to find him when they go through the portal.” She looked at Citra, “Why didn’t we think of that? Now, we just need to find the perfect person to do it.”

Citra crosses her arms as she looks at the rest of the creatures in the room, specifically, a small, green critter that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a fox. “Who said it had to be a person that we send?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero finds a strange intruder hanging out in his dresser, and then has a confrontation with the night class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry it took so long. With everything going on, and switching hours at my job, I had placed this in the back of my mind. Plus, having ADHD, it's really easy for me to get distracted by something and completely forget all about this. It is not on hiatus, or discontinued. I just need to find a way to focus.

The next day was a Saturday so Zero planned on sleeping in. He had his alarm off and his cell phone on silent so that he wouldn’t get any unwanted phone calls (Cross). He had his door locked so no one could barge in (Yuki). He had his window secured so that no one could sneak in (Blood sucking bastards). He was all set and ready to get some much needed rest.

So why was it that throughout all his planning, there’s still an alarm going off and the lights switching on?

Zero groaned and rolled his body to face the wall, covering his head with his blanket. He didn’t really hear any footsteps, the sound of a dresser drawer being opened was loud and clear.  _ Jesus Christ _ , He thought.  _ Is someone seriously rifling through my boxers drawer _ ? He stays under the blanket, a part of him hoping that the intruder would just leave without any issues. However, the second he hears someone walk over to his bed, Zero knows his cover has been blown. He lifts the covers away from his face and glares at the perp. Nichol stood above him with his arm raised towards the silverette’s shoulder.

“Finally.” Nichol lowered his hand. “What are you still doing sleeping? We have to get ready and go.”

Zero was confused, “What?”

“Did you hit your head or something?” Nichol’s facial expression didn’t show anything, but Zero could hear a small hint of worry in his voice. “You need to get dressed so that we can make it for breakfast without being late.”

“Late to what?” Zero sat up, fixing his sleep shirt. “What are you talking about?”

“For school,” Nichol answered. At this, Zero finally took in that the other boy was wearing his school uniform. This time, he was forgoing his scarf in favor of one the school’s red ties, though he was still wearing those fancy white gloves of his.

Zero rubbed his eyes with a groan. “Nichol, it’s Saturday. We don’t have school on Saturdays.”

Nichol stopped to stare at him. “It is obvious that you are trying to lie to me so that you do not have to get up. However, I cannot be late if I want your peers to not suspect anything weird of me.” He heads to Zero’s dresser and opens it, rifling through its drawers before throwing something at the younger’s head, “Here. Now please hurry up before we are late.”

Zero sighed, before getting up, thankful that he didn’t like sleeping in the nude, even if sweatpants and a too big t-shirt made him look malnourished. He stalks toward their window, and throws open the curtains pulling up the window to let in some air, “Look,” He points. “What do you see out there?”

Nichol looked outside, spotting a few students walking around in their everyday clothes. “Why aren’t they ready for class yet? Aren’t they going to be punished for being out of their uniforms?”

“No, they’re not.” Zero grumbled. “Because it is the weekend. There is no school on the weekends.” He could see that Nichol’s stoic face was softened down with a look of confusion. “Look, you had school in your world, right? Surely you guys have had days off before.” He walks over to his dresser to look for a normal set of clothes.

“My world did have a few academic sites like this, usually for those learning certain subjects such as magic.” Nichol conformed. “However, I had never been enrolled in one before.”

Zero had to stop his search and look at the other, “What? You’ve never been to school before? So, what did you do, read all day?”

“Oh, I had tutors throughout my childhood.” Nichol explained. “They taught me almost everything that I know to this day.”

“Right.” Zero shook his head as he opened up his underwear drawer. “That must have been extremely…. What the hell is this?” he asks the other.

A giant, greenish blue furry ball lay on his boxers. Zero had no idea what was going on, but he knew that this wasn’t there yesterday. As Nichol walks up to him, Zero raises a finger and pokes the ball none too gently.

The ball twitches and shakes, before standing still, so Zero pokes it again. The ball wriggles again, before changing. Zero stumbles back with a soft “shit,” as the ball grows a pair of long fluffy blue ears, and what looks like three long tails. Zero continued to stare in disbelief as the ball soon continued to move around and a head popped up. A bright red jewel lay in between a pair of giant, deerlike eyes. Whatever it was, it looked like a cross between a fox and a rabbit.

The creature and Zero stare at each other for a long time as Nichol continues his way over to them. Before the other boy makes it over though, the creature reers back, letting out a loud scream, startling the two boys. Zero falls onto his but, with a loud “Shit,” as the creature jumps out of his dresser. It's still screaming as it jumps out of the open window. “What the fuck?”

“Carbuncle,” Nichol murmurs. The older boy rushes toward their window and pulls it open all the way. He jumps out, just as Zero gets back to his feet.

“Hey wait!” Zero yells, as he follows the other out the window. He jumps down, not paying attention to the stares of some of his classmates who happened to be walking outside at the time. He searches for Nichol, and spies the other running off toward the moon dorms, “Damn it.” He murmurs as he runs after the other. “Nichol! Wait up!”

“Hurry!” Nichol yelled without stopping. “We need to catch that Esper.”

As Zero catches up, he spies the weird creature up ahead. It runs between student’s legs, without anyone reacting. “Excuse me,” Zero calls as he almost runs into someone while trying to keep his eyes on the creature. He can hear Nichol doing the same thing, as they continued on their hunt.

He keeps running, trying his damnedest to catch this thing before someone notices it. He almost reaches the creature when it turns, forcing Zero to adjust himself so that he doesn’t run into a brick wall that stood in front of him. He tries not to take too long, and dashes off in the direction that the creature had gone. He cheats a little, using some of his vampiric powers to help catch up, leaving poor Nichol in the dust.

The creature goes to turn again but, before it could get any farther away again, Zero dives arms out to grab onto the creature. He hears a sharp yelp, from surprise or pain he’s not sure. However, it didn’t sound anything like an animal cry. He doesn’t let up though, refusing to give this thing a chance to escape his grasp. He works his body so that it’s sitting up, while his hands still a firm hold on whatever it was that he was holding.

He could faintly hear a pair of footsteps rushing towards him. He turns to see Nichol reach him, before the other boy almost collapses. The older places his hands on his knees, as he tries to take in oxygen.

“You… caught… him.” Nichol gasps out eventually.

“Yeah,” Zero murmurs, as the creature tries to bite him. Thank god he had the forethought to hold it out away from his body. “I caught, whatever weird mutated creature this thing is.”

“Carbuncle.”

Zero blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Carbuncle.” Nichol repeated as his breathing returned to normal. “His name is Carbuncle.”

“Carbuncle,” Zero says as he tries to adjust his hold, “Like those boils that one gets under their skin? You named your pet after a boil? That’s just weird, man.”

“He is not my pet,” Nichol huffed. “He is a-”

“What is going on here?” A familiar voice interrupted. Zero slumped, as he mumbled a few choice words under his breath. He turns around, only to see Kuran and a few of his lackeys watching him and Nichol with a look that Zero couldn’t quite place.

Zero tensed, before all tossing Carbuncle behind him, hoping that Nichol catches whatever it was. The silverette really didn’t want to have to chase after the thing again. “Kuran.”

“Kyruu.” Kaname replies back. His face was expressionless, except for the small glint in his eyes that almost like amusement. “Do you mind telling us what the two of you are doing in front of the night class dorms?” A certain blonde vampire could be seen with a smirk on his face, while the others looked impassive. Obviously, whatever Zero was doing wasn’t worth their time.

“What’s it to you, Kuran? What I do in the morning is none of your business.” Zero snarled as he tried to look around his surroundings. The pureblood was right. The two of them had ended up right outside the gates of the night class. Their yelling must have woken the vampires up. He shifted himself, trying to guard Nichol from prying eyes. Even though the older boy was magic, he looked like a strong breeze could blow him away. And after last time, when Nichol met the night class, Zero doubted that the boy had left a good impression on the bloodsuckers.

Kaname raised an eyebrow. “I believe it is my business when you wake up my people at seven in the morning, Mr. Prefect.”

Before Zero could answer, a hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to tense up. He turns to look at the culprit, loosening up when he spies Nichol. Though, he couldn’t help but tense up a bit when he realizes that Nichol is no longer holding Carbuncle.

“I apologize, Mr. Kuran.” Nichol answers, though he didn’t sound apologetic. “However, I do believe that Zero is right. What he and I do has nothing to do with you. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your…. people to leave.” He hesitates, almost like he wanted to say something else.

Kaname’s eyes narrowed, “I’m sorry, who are you again? I’m afraid I don’t remember.”

“I believe you know my name,” Nichol answered. “Unless you are suffering from some sort of memory issues which, in that case, I believe you should get that checked.”

Zero worked to fight down a smirk at the other’s insult. It was kind of disappointing that the bastard kept his cool, though his face hardened more than Zero thought possible.

“Excuse me,” Aido interrupted in outrage. “Who do you think you're talking to, you little freak?”

Nichol blinked, “Again apologies, but I do not believe that name calling would be appropriate for someone of your age. Please tell me how old you are because I think you need a lesson in manners.”

Aido’s face turned a bright crimson as he lunged for Nichol. He didn’t make it though as Zero stepped in between, Bloody Rose pointed straight at the blonde’s forehead. “Back off, Hanabusa. Kuran, get your dog before I put him down like the rabid mutt he is.”

For a second there, it didn’t look like the Pureblood was going to do anything. He took a look at the three of them, before shaking his head, “Cease, Aido. There is unbecoming of you. Let us go back to the dorms. All of us.” He insists as Aido looked like he was going to argue.

Aido gave Nichol a look to kill before giving a loud huff and following the others back inside the gate.

Zero didn’t move. He continued to stand there in front of Nichol with Bloody Rose out in front of him. Even after he watched as every single one of Kaname’s group entered the dorm, he refused to let his guard down.

“Well that was entertaining.”

Zero flinched, almost dropping his beloved gun as a child’s voice filled his head. He turns around, trying to find the 

Carbuncle sat there, in the middle of the clearing ,staring at the two of them with wide amber eyes.

“Carbuncle.” Nichol greeted.

“Nichol.”

Zero flinched. The creature’s mouth didn’t open, but the silverette was pretty sure that the child’s voice came from it. Although he wasn’t sure how he was hearing it in his head. “What’s going on here?” He asks, “Is that your voice I’m hearing in my head?”

“Got it in one, human.”  The creature lifted its front paw and started messing the rabbit like ears on top of its head.  “Though, we should probably get out of here before other humans come and see the two of you. They might think you’re crazy or something.”

Zero sighed, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re too late for that considering all of the people that you ran out in front of when you jumped out of my window.”

“Nothing to worry about.”  Carbuncle stretched.  “Now let’s go. I’m starving.”

“But-”

“Do not bother,” Nichol interrupted. “Let us just go back to our room before that group comes back.” He lets out a small shiver, “I do not know what it is, but something is not right with those students.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is something off with them,” Nichol begins, “Something that screams that they may not be human.”

Zero tenses. “Right.”

“Enough chit chat.” Carbuncle jumps onto Nichol’s shoulder,  “Take me to your food supply before I starve to death.”

“Uh, sure.” Zero says. Seriously, what had he gotten himself into?

They walk off, Zero forcing them to take the longer route for fear of bumping into any of the day class.

They didn’t notice the pair of eyes following their every step.

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this first series is based on the Christian song Bleed the Same by Mandisa. It goes on the idea that even though we are all different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside. This will be explained more, later on in the story if you guys are interested in reading this.


End file.
